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When a young brewery boss is found dead, a chain of events is triggered that draws four of his employees into a fragile pact of silence, bound by a secret that will change their lives forever.

The creator and writer of Â鶹ԼÅÄ One's The Pact, Pete McTighe, introduces the drama.

The Pact begins on Â鶹ԼÅÄ One and Â鶹ԼÅÄ iPlayer on Monday 17th May at 9pm

Growing up, I was heavily influenced by female ensemble dramas like , and , and I’ve always gravitated towards writing complex female-led drama series. After finishing , I was craving something different - something just as characterful and surprising, but less claustrophobic and with its own strong identity. And ever since I moved to Wales, I’d been eager to write a world-class drama set here, taking advantage of our epic locations and incredible talent both on-screen and behind the camera. The Pact is the fusion of those intentions.

The Pact is a show that explores secrets and their consequences, and examines the fragile nature of trust, through the prism of a complex, relatable friendship group. Yes, it’s a thriller, with big twists and surprises, but first and foremost it’s a character piece - so it was important to me to take time to drill down into each of our key characters and properly explore the impact of a terrible moral dilemma on each one.

Anna, our anchor and the moral heart of this friendship group, is married to a police officer (Max), which greatly intensifies her dilemma. For Nancy, Jack’s unexpected death triggers massive questions about her own life and faith. Cat, who has turned her life around, is suddenly facing her worst nightmare - a potential return to prison - while for Louie, Jack’s aunt, his death unravels an horrific family legacy. The nature of family is something we explore throughout the series - both the family we’re born into and the family of friends we choose - as well as the cost of deceiving the people we love.

Our diverse, cinematic Welsh locations are almost characters in themselves; the beauty and bleakness of the woods, the honeyed warmth of the brewery, the cool grandeur of the Evans mansion and the scale and menace of the looming viaducts add both production value and atmosphere.

It was really important to me that The Pact was rooted in a progressive world, with well-rounded characters who aren’t defined by their gender, race, class or sexuality. As a gay man, I live in a relatively safe liberal bubble of my family, friends and colleagues – but I’m all too aware that the world outside that bubble often isn’t so accommodating. So it’s important to me that, in my work, I present the wider audience with characters who might challenge their perceptions, who reflect my experiences and views with regards to gender and sexuality in particular. Normalising queer relationships is a really important aspect of my writing and always has been - there are several LGBTQ+ characters in The Pact and their sexuality is deliberately not the story – it’s just a part of who they are.

It was also important to me that the show provided some relief from the pandemic we are all living through, but it didn’t feel right to ignore what we’ve all experienced this past year. So, our story is set slightly in the future, where most of the population is vaccinated and life is returning to ‘normal’ – but for our characters, the stress and anxiety of 2020 and the various lockdowns has cast a psychological shadow that informs some of their behaviour and decisions.

Shooting these episodes during the autumn and winter of 2020 was extremely challenging for all of us but we had an exceptional cast and crew - like none I’ve ever worked with before - who pulled together in extraordinary circumstances, under strict safety protocols, to bring this story to screen. I’m really proud of the resulting six episodes which are a testament to their hard work, faith and talent.

Watch The Pact on Â鶹ԼÅÄ One and Â鶹ԼÅÄ iPlayer from Monday 17th May at 9pm

Meet the cast of characters in The Pact

Read more interviews with the cast and crew of The Pact