Why did two officers climb onto The Tower?

There’s always a heart-stopping moment when fans of a successful book or series of novels hear their literary loved one is going to be adapted for the big or small screen.

For every Morse, in which John Thaw (and Shaun Evans as his younger incarnation) are clutched to the bosom of devotees, there’s a Tom Cruise upsetting millions of Jack Reacher fans.

This three-part series, which adapts Kate London’s first Metropolitan story, Post Mortem, is sure to fall in the former category.

Interestingly, it was down to Kate to decide who brought her literary creation to the small screen. She chose Patrick Harbinson – best known for his work on US political drama Homeland. He says of the production: “After six years on Homeland, I wanted to get back to my roots and write something firmly based in the UK. As soon as I read Kate London’s beautifully written novels I knew they were it. They are authentic, funny, crammed with original characters, and they tell intense and challenging stories.”

Post Mortem was also the first in Kate’s series of novels to feature Detective Sergeant Sarah Collins and, like Morse, she is much-loved among London’s readers. She will be brought to life by the hugely talented Gemma Whelan, who is best known to Game of Thrones’ army of viewers as the fierce Yara Greyjoy, and also has Gentleman Jack and Upstart Crow among her impressive CV.

Gemma Whelan says of her alter ego: “I loved this very morally strict woman who seems to be wedded to her job. It’s very black and white in terms of what she thinks is right and wrong in the police force and the protocol. She’s very strong and sure of herself at work.”

Waterloo Road’s Tahirah Sharif plays Lizzie Adama, the rookie foil to Collins’ experienced officer, and the actress says viewers will be “drip-fed” aspects of her life as she has to deal with making some of the most difficult decisions she’s ever faced.

The series kicks off in jaw-dropping fashion, as a veteran beat cop and a teenage girl fall to their deaths from a tower block in south-east London.

Left alive on the roof of the building are a five-year-old boy and newbie police officer Lizzie Adama. However, within hours, she has disappeared and DS Sarah Collins is charged with leading the investigation. She not only has to track down Lizzie before she comes to serious harm, but also to uncover the truth behind the grisly deaths.

There are difficult questions to answer too: what chain of events took two police officers and two children to the roof of that tower block – why did two of them die and why did two of them survive?

As regular readers will know, the antagonistic relationship between the experienced Sarah and novice cop Lizzie is at the heart of London’s novels and this drama. What happened on the roof of the tower block is the mystery that Sarah must uncover. When it is finally revealed, the truth will cast its shadow over the two women’s relationship and their lives.

The cracking cast also includes Emmett J Scanlan and Jimmy Akingbola, and the drama continues tomorrow and Wednesday.

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