cheat | what to watch?

Cheat | ITV

Did you manage to catch this psychological thriller that spanned across four nights on ITV last week? I made a point to watch this series in real time and not on catch up and I’m pleased I did. I absolutely love it when channels decide to broadcast a new series all in the same week- not only does it mean you have your TV sorted four nights in a row, but it means you don’t have to wait weeks on end for any type of closure.

Like many others, the trailer hooked me- “She set me up Adam, she’s clever” has been ringing in my ears for weeks now so I thought I may as well watch it. High drama, a rocky marriage, family secrets, and a murder- I lav it. The series is another fabulous creation by Two Brothers Pictures, who created shows such as The Missing (a #1 fav of mine), ITV's Liar and BBC's Baptiste which is still airing. I'll be sure to keep my eyes peeled for The Widow which is set to hit screens in April on ITV which is also by Two Brothers Pictures.

The story of Cheat follows that of Leah, a newly hired university lecturer, whose father just so happens to have recently retired from lecturing at the same university. Looking beyond the two (!!) back-to-back sex scenes that were shown in the first ten minutes alone, there are discussions of Leah’s probation period nearly being over and she is expecting to have passed and become a full time lecturer so long as nothing major happens in the next week… *cue a twenty-something stalker student who wants to take you and your family down, including but not limited to banging your husband, killing your cat, and tarnishing your professional career.*

Rose, the stalker student, and where the series gets its multifaceted title from, “Cheat” initially refers to Leah picking up on Rose plagiarising in her dissertation… dun dun dunnn. A crime only fatal within an educational institute, however, Rose does not limit her crimes to this but rather ventures out into dangerous territory. I immediately recognised the actress who plays Rose, Molly Windsor, from Three Girls, a miniseries surrounding the ordeals of the real-life Rochdale child sex abuse ring that aired on the BBC last year. Playing a different, and much older, role in Cheat, Molly proved herself a fantastic and diverse actress who is clearly only just stepping out into a long career ahead.

Rose is exceptionally creepy and seems to have everything figured out, having her wealthy father basically bagging her a place at the university due to his funding of the library. She has clearly done a lot of research into Leah and everything that surrounds her life, and manages to find ways to constantly intimidate and manipulate Leah.

I can guarantee this miniseries will make you squirm, particularly at the delights of Leah’s fiancé Adam, who is not only self centred, and completely oblivious to Leah’s ambition or hard work, but he is completely stupid, especially when sending nudes are involved. Adam’s focus is solely himself and *SPOILER AHEAD* Rose was right when she said to Leah that she had done her a favour by murdering him (does that make me a bad person?). He was a complete git and Leah needed rid of him whichever way.

Whilst the series end had us wondering if Rose had truly forgiven her biological father, *SPOILER* it turns out she hated her step father more, and ultimately I think his lack of love growing up is what led her to the fate she met.

I low-key hope the rumours aren’t true that Cheat isn’t returning for a second series, because I believe there’s a lot of room to develop Rose’s character some more- also can we talk about how Rose managed to persuade Ben, the member of staff at the university grounds, to help her with her murder plots? I have a theory that he is actually a hit man that she hired but please let me know what you think!

The complete miniseries of Cheat is currently available on ITV player.