±«Óãtv

Damian Lewis leads the cast in Stolen, a new single film for ±«Óãtv One from the writer of Five Daughters, Stephen Butchard (House Of Saddam, Vincent).

Stolen is directed by one of the best filmmakers of his generation, Justin Chadwick (The First Grader, The Other Boleyn Girl, Bleak House) and produced by Open Door Productions.

Sita Williams, Executive Producer for Open Door Productions, said: "We have wanted to make this film for a very long time, and I'm delighted that the ±«Óãtv has commissioned it – to bring this subject to a wider audience."

Damian Lewis plays Detective Inspector Anthony Carter in a fast-paced thriller about human trafficking in Britain today, where children are brought here for a better life but end up working illegally outside the system.

It's a story of modern child slavery that demonstrates the broadening scope of single dramas on ±«Óãtv One.

Stolen follows the story of one man, Anthony (Lewis), and three children.

Anthony works in the Human Trafficking Unit, battling to make a difference to the plight of exploited children being smuggled into the UK and from there, to anywhere and to any fate.

Anthony has a wall of snapshots in his office of unknown children, children without passports, without identity, without family, without hope, who have been smuggled into this country to be enslaved and exploited: Rosemary 11, is a terrorised young girl from West Africa, who thought she was coming to England to be educated. She is sold as a house servant; Kim Pak, 15, is a gardener in a Vietnamese cannabis house, imprisoned in a semi in suburbia; Georgie, 14, from the Ukraine, is put to work in the food industry, making sandwiches.

If Anthony could save just one of those faces on his wall, it would be worth it.

Polly Hill said: "I'm delighted that we are making this wonderful single film written by Stephen Butchard, and directed by Justin Chadwick. It's a thriller with an important story to tell and this combination makes for a very exciting drama, and one which we are thrilled has attracted Justin back to television."

Stolen (previously called Taken) was commissioned by Ben Stephenson, Controller of ±«Óãtv Drama. The Executive Producer for the ±«Óãtv is Polly Hill and the Executive Producers for Open Door Productions are Roxy Spencer and Sita Williams (Accused, The Street, Vincent). The producer is Rebecca Hodgson.

RN