It started production a year ago and now it's done and dusted, with a premiere date.
White Lies premieres on M-Net on Thursday 7 March at 20h00, headlined by English actress Natalie Dormer and South African actor Brendon Daniels in an international co-production that's similar to the set-up of Recipes for Love and Murder, and Trackers.
As we spilt
here, it's produced by local producers Quizzical Pictures and British production house Fremantle, and it's a murder mystery set in Cape Town.
The first footage, pics and more information have come to light, which you can tune into here:
Themes
An exploration of power and privilege, inequality and identity. It examines a deeply divided society struggling to reckon with the sins of its past.
Story synopsis
Investigative journalist Edie Hansen is stunned by the murder of her estranged brother in a home invasion in the wealthy neighbourhood of Bishopscourt in Cape Town’s southern suburbs.
She's rapidly pulled into the nightmarish aftermath, when she’s reunited with her orphaned teenage niece and nephew in the most difficult of circumstances.
Dragged back into her tumultuous childhood, Edie’s investigation soon puts her at loggerheads with veteran detective Forty Bell and forces her to grapple with the crumbling local police force, a corrupt political system and the secretive world of extreme wealth.
As Edie hunts for the killer across the complicated, beautiful city of Cape Town, she crosses from the leafy Southern Suburbs of white privilege to the poverty-ravaged badlands and back again, discovering that evil knows no boundaries - and it doesn’t discriminate.
The story dissects an inward-looking, affluent community, structured around a very personal psychological and emotional journey.
Trailer
Pix
Peri Zondo and Forty Bell: Constable Zondo (Athenkosi Mfamela) works alongside Forty Bell (Brendon Daniels) on the McKenzie case.
Avi and Edie: Criminal lawyer Avi Kapilevich (Daniel Janks) understands journalist Edie Hansen (Natalie Dormer), but she keeps him at arm’s length.
Pearl: Pearl (Chi Mhende) is the McKenzies’ domestic worker – and could be a key witness in the case.
Werner Weber and the neighbours: The McKenzies’ neighbour, Werner Weber (Warrick Grier), on the scene shortly after Andrew’s shooting.
Magiet: There’s more to gangster Magiet (Lee Roodt) than meets the eye.
Daniel & Jaime: Daniel (Daniel Schultz) and Jaime McKenzie (Morgan Santo), the children of Edie’s deceased brother Andrew.
Production credits
The series was created by Sean Steinberg (head writer on iNumber Number) and the screenplay is by Darrel Bristow-Bovey (head writer on Hard Copy).
It's produced by Harriet Gavshon and Nimrod Geva for Quizzical Pictures, with Natalie Dormer and Darrel Bristow-Bovey also serving as executive producers.
The lead director is John Trengove (Swartwater, The Wound).
Co-directors are:
Thati Pele (Lerato),
Catharine Cooke (Reyka),
Christiaan Olwagen (Recipes for Love and Murder, Poppie Nongena)
Julie Hodge is executive producing for Fremantle, who'll also distribute the series internationally.