Sheridan Smith fans are in for a treat. Anything the actress stars in turns to gold, and BBC's The Cage is no different.
Also starring the equally talented Michael Socha, The Cage lands on BBC iPlayer on Sunday April 26 at 6am, and will also show on BBC One at 9pm the same day - clear your schedule because you won't want to miss a single one of the five episodes.
Both set and filmed in Liverpool and written by policeman-turned-screenwriter Tony schumacher, viewers will find "a beautiful heart" within the quick moving drama.
The series sees Sheridan portray Leanne, a single mum working as a casino cashier. She is also a carer for her Nanna who suffers with dementia, in the aftermath of her own mum's death.
Leanne siphons small amounts of money from the casino to top up her income, and viewers will immediately sympathise with her reasons for doing this - there are so many people relying on her.
When her Nanna needs more care than Leanne can give her and has to go into a care home, Leanne's difficult circumstances leave her strapped for cash and about to lose her home - she needs more money and fast.
Michael Socha is Matty, Leanne's co-worker at the casino. Matty has problems with addiction, and is staring down the barrel of a sinister outcome if he can't get hold of what he needs to pay off the dangerous loan sharks he owes money to.
Unbeknown to Leanne, Matty is also taking small amounts of cash from the casino, but it's not long until they catch each other doing it.
When they uncover each other's secret, they initially try to stop their thieving - but both find themselves increasingly in need of more money with their problems and debts mounting up, and stopping proves difficult.
The titular 'cage' is "the place in the casino where you cash up, collect your dough and the money is counted," Michael Socha tells the BBC - and money flowing through the cage is a constant source of temptation for the unlikely new friends.
After finding one another stealing from the casino and then struggling to stop, Matty and Leanne's lives become tangled in a way that goes on to deliver gripping, high-octane TV, but also gives a brilliant dose of what Sheridan Smith is best at - a tale of "love, family and desperation" that might also "make you cry."
Their lives are even more complicated and full of anxiety when they find out Gary - the casino owner and dangerous gangster - is on to the fact someone has been robbing from him.
Sheridan has spoken about what to expect from Leanne and Matty, saying, "It's so fast paced that each character and their stories are interwoven with one another."
She adds, "Leanne also has an excellent poker face. When you see her at home with her family, you see those vulnerabilities on display and the anxiety that’s within her."
"But then when she's in the casino, the mask is on and it's all smiles. The whole show is like one giant poker game" - Matty and Leanne might strike up a friendship, but come to find they can't really trust each other.
When it comes to crime dramas, audiences often want to know if they're based on a true story. While the story itself isn't rooted in reality, Michael Socha's Matty is heartbreakingly based on writer and creator Tony Schumacher's brother.
The writer's brother, Phil, battled with alcoholism and sadly died while The Cage was being filmed.
"Our Phil’s typical timing," Schumacher tells The Royal Television Society. He explains, "My brother was an alcoholic, so there are elements of him in Matty. He was in hospital for 12 weeks with a slow deterioration due to liver and kidney failure."
"Some of the stuff I was giving Michael to deal with was what I was dealing with myself at that time."
While the action will grip you, the flawed but relatable characters and their perfectly written back stories are one of the major draws with this series.
The Cage airs on BBC One and BBC iPlayer from April 26.
