The three-part drama series will star Andrew Scott (Sherlock), Gerard Kearns (Shameless), Julia McKenzie, Charlotte Riley, Kelly Adams (Hustle) and Martin Clunes (Doc Martin).

Co-executive producer Kenton Allen commented: “At the heart of The Town will be a family struggling to come to terms with change. It’s also our hope to paint a picture of contemporary Britain through the magnifying glass of an ordinary market town.”

Co-executive producer Simon Curtis added: “These communities are desperate for a sense of purpose and direction. They face the same challenges we all do. A shrinking economy, under-employment, crime and a struggle to educate our children. Mike’s real skill is to craft a compelling and entertaining drama at the heart of such a world.”

> Read our exclusive interview with Andrew Scott.

The official synopsis for The Town reads: “Following a shocking incident amongst an otherwise normal family, 30 year-old Mark Nicholas (Andrew Scott) returns to the town where he grew up. After ten years away, coming home to Renton is harder than Mark could ever have imagined. He always had a strained relationship with his parents, his grandmother Betty (Julia McKenzie) is now living in his childhood bedroom and he barely knows his teenage sister Jodie (newcomer Avigail Tlalim).

“Mark starts to be drawn back into the life he left behind. Most of his school friends still live in the town but he finds it hard to re-connect with them. Hardest of all is meeting his first love Alice (Charlotte Riley) who stayed behind when he left. They still have strong feelings for each other but Alice is now married with a child.

“Mark struggles to decide whether he should stay permanently to be with his family. But a new life is difficult to build in the place you used to call home and it now feels like you barely know it.”

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Watch a clip from the Sherlock Series 2 finale…