An app that promises to fulfil your life’s every need? Sounds pretty alluring, especially right now. More money magically appearing on the electric meter? Yes, please. A new designer outfit for a big party? Hand it over. And the ability to get in touch with a much-missed loved one? Sign us up! However, there’s always some sort of catch to such great promises – and in Red Rose, BBC Three’s new horror series, the catch is mighty. Created by Bolton-born screenwriting duo The Clarkson Twins, the eight-part drama explores what happens when dark forces exploit social media and teenage heartbreak to tear apart the lives of a young, working-class community.
Within the first five minutes, the show’s eerie tone is set: a teenage girl jumps from a roof to her death. We don’t know why. All we can gather is that a haunting presence is watching her every move, hijacking her home appliances as they switch on and off, furiously. There’s also a weird shadow that follows right behind her at every step. It’s spooky stuff. Fast forward to six months later, and gobby GCSE student Rochelle (Isis Hainsworth) and her friends have just finished their exams. Everything in their lives seems about to shift: Wren (Amelia Clarkson) is on the edge of a romance with their other pal Noah (Harry Redding), while the rest of the crew are looking forward to their summer jobs and generally moving on from secondary school. The future is more bleak than bright for Rochelle, though – she’s still grieving her mother’s suicide a few years prior, and her family is struggling to make ends meet. In Bolton, the opportunities for change feel out of reach – or at least, a few hundred miles further south in the country – and it’s disheartening. She hides her worries with a tough, wisecracking exterior, but she’s insecure, unsure and lonely.
