ITV’s new supernatural drama Lightfields is the follow-up to 2011’s Marchlands.
Set on a remote farm on the Suffolk coast, the five-part series follows three families who live in Lightfields farmhouse at different time periods (1944, 1975 and 2012) but who are linked by a spine chilling presence: the ghost of a teenage girl who died in mysterious and tragic circumstances.
> Order Lightfields on DVD on Amazon.
> Buy Marchlands on DVD on Amazon.
The cast includes Dakota Blue Richards (Skins), Sam Hazeldine (The Raven), Jill Halfpenny (Waterloo Rd), Kris Marshall (My Family), Danny Miller (Emmerdale), Antonia Clarke (Skins), Lucy Cohu (Gosford Park), Danny Webb (Life Begins), Neil Jackson (Upstairs Downstairs), Karla Crome (Misfits) and Sophie Thompson (Four Weddings and a Funeral).
Episode 1
Wednesday 27 February 2013, 9pm
1944 – The harvest is looming and the Felwood family are hard at work on the farm when 19 year-old Eve arrives. She has been evacuated from London and wants to help out and do her bit for the war effort. A friendship blossoms between Lucy Felwood and Eve but this is put in jeopardy when Dwight, a dashing American airman, comes into their lives. It is Eve who meets him first but then a chance meeting between him and Lucy triggers lies and deceptions between the two girls. Then, one fateful night, the hay barn catches fire. The fire rages and it is too late when they realise that there is someone in the barn.
1975 – Lightfields has stood empty for many years when Vivien and her teenage daughter Clare arrive from London to stay for the summer. Vivien stayed in the area when she was evacuated there during the war but struggles to remember anything about that time. As they settle into their holiday Vivien’s distant behaviour starts to concern her daughter. Unbeknown to Clare something has started to stir in Vivien’s memory since their arrival at the farm, something unsettling. But that is not all; their arrival has triggered something else, something has woken in the house. The two women are not alone.
2012 – A new generation of Felwoods have recently bought Lightfields. Barry and Lorna live there with their grandson, Luke, and Barry’s elderly and infirm father, Pip, has just moved in. Pip lived at Lightfields when he was a boy and this is the first time he has returned. He is disturbed to be back after all these years and won’t talk about his childhood on the farm. Pip knows his return has awakened something in the house but he refuses to acknowledge it. What he doesn’t know is that there is someone else who is only too willing to see and communicate with this ghostly presence; his great grandson Luke.
Episode 2
Wednesday 6 March 2013, 9pm
1944 – As the family and local community struggle to come to terms with Lucy’s death Eve believes it wasn’t just a tragic accident. She knows Lucy must have been meeting someone at the hay barn and having established it wasn’t Harry she knows who it must have been. Motivated by this niggling suspicion Eve searches in the smoldering wreckage of the barn and finds Dwight’s petrol lighter. With this proof she confronts Dwight but outsmarted by him she is left once again with nothing but her own suspicion.
1975 – Clare remains worried about Vivien and is relieved when her dad arrives for the weekend. He believes Vivien is on the verge of a breakdown, something that has happened before, and wants her to go home and get treatment. But Clare wants her mother to be given a chance to work things out her way so he returns to London alone. A discovery that Vivien visited Lightfields as a girl unsettles her. Her memory remains just out of reach but as information drips in and the ghostly presence becomes more prevalent she starts to fear that her memory holds a terrible secret.
2012 – A terrifying moment when Luke goes missing and is found sitting by a grave in the churchyard makes Pip realise that the ghost is communicating with his great grandson. The grave belonged to Lucy Felwood and it is getting harder and harder for Pip to keep up his pretense that she never existed. They are then distracted when Paul turns up with shocking news; he is going to fight for custody of Luke. Barry and Lorna have looked after Luke since he was a baby and the thought of losing him now is unimaginable.
Episode 3
Wednesday 13 March 2013, 9pm
1944 – Despite the police confirming that Lucy’s death was an accident Eve is still convinced that there is more to it than that. She tries to talk to Martha but, at the mention of an airman, Martha shuts her down. Similarly Albert, who is finding Eve’s presence in the house difficult, won’t listen. Meanwhile Vivien has found a letter Eve wrote to Lucy on the day of her death. Harry sees the letter and before Eve can destroy it he reads it. He is shocked; the letter is vitriolic and hurtful. It seems that Eve hated Lucy.
1975 – While Clare is intrigued about Vivien’s time in Suffolk as a child Vivien is reluctant to dig up the past. She hasn’t told Clare but the memories have started creeping back leaving her with nightmares revolving around Lightfields. Then one morning Vivien finds typing on her typewriter that she knows she didn’t do. Clare tries to calm her mother down but in truth Clare is scared about what is happening to them. The next night Vivien wakes and hears a noise. She goes downstairs and there is more typing and this time the message seems directed at her.
2012 – When Luke puts himself in danger by starting a fire Pip is worried that this is Lucy’s doing and he is terrified she is trying to hurt his great grandson. However for Paul the fire presents an opportunity, which he grabs with both hands, and Barry is left having to convince social services that Luke is safe at the farm. Then Barry, after an evening with Paul trying and failing to settle the dispute amicably, seizes his own opportunity to level the playing field. Meanwhile Pip is spending more and more time with Luke. It is the only way he can think of to protect Luke from his sister.
Episode 4
Wednesday 20 March 2013, 9pm
1944 – In the wake of Harry’s discovery of the letter Eve decides to leave the farm but a plaintive plea from Pip persuades her to stay. Lucy’s death is haunting them all and life at Lightfields is becoming increasingly painful. Martha can see that Albert’s grief for Lucy is eating him up inside and she wants them to move but Albert has a plan of his own. Eve finds Albert at the hay barn one evening and he makes a terrible confession. He needs Lucy’s forgiveness if he is going to be able to carry on.
1975 –Vivien is increasingly preoccupied with the unexplained goings on in the house. She is beginning to fear that Lucy is out to get her. She learns from Tom that Lucy died in a fire and Vivien begins to wonder if she had something to do with it. Clare is frightened and wants them to leave Lightfields and go home but Vivien knows she needs to stay. Vivien needs to find out what she has blocked out for all these years and that night a visit from Lucy lets Vivien know that the time has come.
2012 – Paul is fast unravelling and anxiety is high at Lightfields – the custody battle is taking its toll on them all. Increasingly aware of Lucy’s influence on Luke Pip makes him promise to tell him if she comes to see him again. One night, true to his promise, Luke wakes Pip to tell him that Lucy is there. Pip, after all these years, is forced to face his past. Knowing he can’t manage this alone any longer he tells Barry and Lorna about Lucy; that she died at Lightfields and is still here. He tells them they can’t let Luke out of their sight.
Episode 5
Wednesday 27 March 2013, 9pm
1944 – With the harvest in the Felwoods decide that the time has come for them to move on. Lightfields holds too many memories of Lucy; memories they believe they need to forget. Dwight is close to breaking point and looks to unburden himself of the truth about what happened that night with Lucy but it seems his confession may have come too late. Meanwhile Harry and Eve come to the realisation that they need to put the events of the summer in their past in order to make the most of the time they have left together before Harry has to leave to fight in the war.
1975 – Recent spooky events have forced Vivien to make a decision and she tells Clare that the time has come for them to go home. But while Clare is at the beach saying her goodbyes to Nick it becomes clear that Vivien hasn’t been totally honest with her daughter. Clare realises something is up but when she gets back to the house and finds her mother gone. With the help of Tom she races against time to find Vivien, who alone and vulnerable, is on the verge, after all these years, of remembering what she did that fateful night.
2012 – When Luke goes missing at the farm they believe that Pip was right and that Lucy has taken him. But Lucy is not the only danger to Luke; Paul is unravelling and looks ready to resort to drastic measures to see his son. While they frantically search for Luke a B&B guest arrives at Ligthfields. The guest turns out to be someone from Pip’s past. Finally, after all these years, it is time for the truth about what happened that night to be told.
> Order Lightfields on DVD on Amazon.
> Buy Marchlands on DVD on Amazon.
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