BENEATH the surface

KARA TOINTON on playing a cleaner who uncovers the disturbing past of a wealthy businessman

- HANNAH DAVIES

TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE
WEDNESDAY & THURSDAY, 9PM, CHANNEL 5 THRILLER (BOX SET, MY5)

What would you do if you were suspiciously offered a job that paid more than your wildest dreams?

This is the premise of Channel 5’s latest psychological thriller, Too Good to Be True, which begins as a fairy-tale romance before the layers are peeled back to reveal a world of murky secrets and past trauma.

The four-parter – beginning with a double bill this week – centres on cleaner and single mum Rachel (Mr Selfridge and Archie star Kara Tointon), who’s up to her eyes in debt and struggling to provide for her 11-year-old son, Liam (Matilda the Musical’s Charlie Hodson-Prior).

Rachel believes her fortunes are starting to look up, however, when she’s hired to clean for mega-rich entrepreneur Elliot, played by Downton Abbey favourite Allen Leech (see box, right), who offers her more money for fewer hours. But as she begins to fall in love with the secretive Elliot, is everything really as perfect as it seems?

Here, Kara, 40, tells TV Times why the story is set to have viewers gripped…

What sets this show apart?

I love thrillers like these, but now I’m a mother of two [to sons Frey, five, and Helly, three], those moments watching TV are quite sporadic!

But this series is really interesting because it’s almost like a romcom initially, so when it all starts to unravel, it somehow means more. The story keeps you guessing and it’s a roller coaster of emotions. You don’t know which way it’s going to go until right at the end.

Why did the role appeal to you?