‘Liar’: Exclusive Previews of SundanceTV’s Addictive New Mystery Thriller

SundanceTV’s obsession-worthy new psychological thriller Liar centers on the fallout of a seemingly perfect date—which may or may not have ended in rape.

Downton Abbey’s luminous Joanne Froggatt plays gregarious and newly unattached teacher Laura Nielson, who accepts a dinner invite from her student’s dad — a movie-star handsome, widowed surgeon named Andrew Earlham played by Forever‘s dashing Ioan Gruffudd.

Though both are clearly smitten at the outset, the morning after sees charming Andrew still smitten — and a shattered Laura convinced she was drugged and raped. Would Andrew truly have assaulted the woman who teaches his son and also happens to be his anesthetist Katy’s (Zoë Tapper) little sister? Would Laura really be so adamant that he did if it wasn’t so?

Over six episodes, screenwriters Harry and Jack Williams’ (The Missing) twisty psychological drama reveals both what really happened that evening and just how precarious the truth — any truth — can be, as connecting threads and devastating falsehoods within the pair’s inner circles are laid bare.

Ioan Gruffudd as Andrew Earlham, Joanne Froggatt as Laura Nielson (SundanceTV)

Froggatt and Gruffudd relished the chance to dig deep into characters who are enormously likable one moment and highly suspicious the next. “[Director] James [Strong, Dr. Who] got us to do lots of different emotional versions of big, key scenes,” Froggatt tells us. “He was like, ‘Do a really angry version. Do a version where you’re really upset. Now, do a version where you’re feeling really protective.’ So, he had all these choices in the edits to be able to mold that story.”

“I’ve been in a couple of situations in my life where my blood has turned cold when something is revealed about somebody,” says Gruffudd with a wry smile. “We’ve all had that happen to us. But I’m surrounded by actors, and that’s what we do — we all walk out our front door and we present a side ourselves that we want to present to the world.”

Beautifully shot and populated with top-notch performances, Liar is a truly terrific thriller. So, who will you believe? Check out our exclusive previews and start guessing!

Liar: Andrew’s Illusion:

Liar: Laura’s Illusion:

Liar, Wednesdays, 10/9c beginning Sept. 27, SundanceTV