Patience Evans (Ella Maisy Purvis) and Detective Bea Metcalf (Laura Fraser) in Patience. (Channel 4)

TV Tonight: What To Expect From Patience

Patience Evans (Ella Maisy Purvis) and Detective Bea Metcalf (Laura Fraser) in Patience. (Channel 4)

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TV Tonight: What To Expect From Patience

17 hours ago

Kicking off on Channel 4 at 9pm

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Looking for a new crime drama to sink your teeth into? Fans of Ludwig will love Channel 4’s Patience, kicking off tonight at 9pm. Here’s what to know before you tune in.

Channel 4’s Patience: Plot, Cast, Episode Schedule & More

Patience (Ella Maisy Purvis) in York with Bea (Laura Fraser) Will (Ali Ariaie) and Jake (Nathan Welsh) in Patience. (Channel 4)

What Is Patience About?

Channel 4’s Patience centres on a young civilian worker in the Police Criminal Records Office, Patience Evans (Ella Maisy Purvis). Leading a quiet life living with her god-father Douglas in York, Patience is autistic and hyperlexic, meaning she has an incredible auditory and visual memory. As a result, Patience loves a puzzle – and her tenacity spotting connections between and untangling tricky cases eventually captures the attention of curious, instinctive and top-performing crime fighting officer, DI Bea Metcalf (Laura Fraser). After Patience spots a hidden connection between a series of similar suicide cases, Bea takes her under her wing, pushing for Patience to be made into an official Civilian Investigation Officer – which proves overwhelming for Patience navigating the neurotypical world.

The Cast

Ella Maisy Purvis as Patience Evans
Laura Fraser as Detective Bea Metcalf
Tom Lewis as Elliot Scott
Maxwell Whitelock as Alfie Metcalf-Haynes, Bea’s son
Ava-Grace Cook as Young Patience
Mark Benton as Calvin Baxter
Liza Sadovy as Dr. Loretta Parsons

Patience Evans (Ella Maisy Purvis) in Patience. (Channel 4)

Is Ella Maisy Purvis Autistic?

Yes, Ella Maisy Purvis who stars as titular character Patience is autistic and has ADHD. On the importance of casting neurodivergent people in neurodivergent roles, Ella asks: ‘Why wouldn’t you want the person with the most experience to play a role that is so shaped by the way in which they experience the world?

‘Neurodivergent people experience the world in such a unique way, and no two are the same,’ Ella adds. ‘The kind of perspective that comes from lived experiences can’t be learnt, and so when you’re casting for roles which have neurodiversity as part of their character it’s really important that those voices are being heard and are actively in the room. That way, you can bring a level of authenticity to the narrative that would otherwise be lacking, which just makes for a more engaging and meaningful story – which is what we all want in the end, right?’

On reading an early script for Patience, Ella says ‘it looked like such an interesting project, but it was when I actually met the team during one of my recall auditions that I knew this was something I really wanted to be involved in.

‘I was so nervous that day,’ she recalls. ‘I walked away thinking I blew it, so I couldn’t believe it when they said I got the job. What really sold it for me was how open the team was to collaboration. The first script I read in the audition has really changed and grown to what ended up on screen, and some of that came from speaking with the lead writer Matt Baker who’s just the nicest person.

‘I think sometimes autistic characters can be portrayed as incapable of feeling things like love or romance, and within the script I could see there were hints of this connection Patience had with one of the characters,’ Ella adds. ‘I really wanted to lean into that more and Matt was totally on board. It meant we got to have this really lovely moment later on in the story between these characters, and we get to see Patience as a fully rounded character who’s treated like an adult rather than being infantilised. Working with a team and cast who were so open to collaboration allowed us to have so much more authentic storytelling, and when I first met them back at that recall, I knew that was something they cared deeply about.

‘What I love most is that Patience is never the butt of the joke,’ Ella adds. ‘She may miss things or not understand some social cues or context, but she’ll make some blunt remark which just always gave me a giggle when reading the script. That was so important to me – that the show has real humour but it’s never at the expense of Patience’s character.’

Detective Bea Metcalf (Laura Fraser) in Patience. (Channel 4)

Is Patience Based On A True Story?

No, Patience is not based on a true story, but instead is an English adaptation of Franco-Belgian detective series, Astrid et Raphaëlle. First broadcast in 2019, the series centres on autistic archivist Astrid Nielsen (Sara Mortensen) who captures the attention of impulsive police detective Major Raphaëlle Coste (Lola Dewaere).

Earning comparisons to American medical drama The Good Doctor, Astrid et Raphaëlle has run for five seasons so far garnering fans across France, Belgium, Spain and here in the UK, too (the first three seasons are available to watch on channel4.com, under the title Astrid). With season 5 concluding just before Christmas, there could be a long future ahead for Astrid et Raphaëlle – but only time will tell if Patience enjoys the same success.

Patience Episode Release Schedule

The six-part drama will air on Wednesday and Thursday evenings at 9pm for three weeks, beginning 8 January 2025. The episode release schedule is as follows: