Sylvie Morgan (Tamzin Outhwaite), Beth Morgan (Jo Joyner) & Natasha Morgan (Angela Griffin) in The Wives (Channel 5)

Inside The Wives, Channel 5's New Sun-Soaked Drama

Sylvie Morgan (Tamzin Outhwaite), Beth Morgan (Jo Joyner) & Natasha Morgan (Angela Griffin) in The Wives (Channel 5)

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Inside The Wives, Channel 5’s New Sun-Soaked Drama

By Olivia Emily

3 months ago

Three wives delve into the mysterious death of their sister-in-law

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It’s a good time to be Channel 5: hot off the heels of a buzzy second series of The Teacher comes The Wives, another must-watch, most-talked-about series. This time, we’re in sun-soaked Malta, following three women as they dig beneath the surface of their sister-in-law’s mysterious death one year ago. Here we delve into the series, covering everything from the cast to that sunny island location.

The Wives Channel 5: Plot, Cast & Filming Locations

Sylvie Morgan (Tamzin Outhwaite), Beth Morgan (Jo Joyner) & Natasha Morgan (Angela Griffin) in The Wives (Channel 5)

After some summer escapism? Don’t miss Channel 5’s latest psychological drama, led by three women investigating the mysterious death of their sister in law one year ago: Jo Joyner (EastEnders, Ackley Bridge) plays Beth, Angela Griffin (Waterloo Road, White Lines) plays Natasha, and Tamzin Outhwaite plays Sylvie (New Tricks, The Tower), grieving wives of the Morgan brothers, with Charlie Morgan widowed by the beloved Annabelle one year prior. So when Charlie shows up to the annual family holiday with a brand new girlfriend, red flags begin to show. Here’s what will happen.

What Is The Wives About?

Every year, the Morgan clan holiday in sunny Malta where they all have holiday apartments. But one year ago, the annual escape ended in tragedy: Annabelle Morgan totally disappeared, leaving behind husband Charlie and daughter Sky. After searching the rocky terrain for any sign of her and only finding her phone, the police concluded she must have fallen to her death from a perilous cliff edge.

One year on, the family return to the fateful island. They are still grieving the loss of Annabelle, but recognise they should move on with their lives. But when Charlie arrives with a brand new girlfriend – who bears an uncanny resemblance to Annabelle – questions resurface about what actually happened to Annabelle. The Morgan wives – Beth, Natash and Sylvie – delve into that pivotal day, suspecting it wasn’t an accident after all…

Written and created by Helen Black with episodes by Ciara Conway and Jamie Jackson, it’s a twisty drama brimming with famous faces – all backdropped by a beautifully sunny destination.

Charlie (Jamie Bamber) in The Wives. (Channel 5)

Where Is The Wives Filmed?

The Wives is set in Malta – and it was filmed there, too. This historic, Southern Europe island sits in the Mediterranean Sea between Italy, Tunisia and Libya. Home to just 542,000 people, most of Malta’s population lives in the capital city, Valletta (the EU’s smallest capital) – which we see plenty of in The Wives.

Mostly built in the 16th century, sand-toned Malta is home to plenty of ancient fortifications, but the Baroque beauty of palaces, gardens and churches also shines beneath the beating sun. Elsewhere in The Wives, we see the sandy shores of Gozo, just one of 21 islands making up the Maltese archipelago, popular for hiking and its beaches and scuba diving sites.

Natasha (Angela Griffin), Sylvie (Tamzin Outhwaite) and Beth (Jo Joyner) in The Wives. (Channel 5)

Cast Of The Wives

Jo Joyner as Beth Morgan
Angela Griffin as Natasha Morgan
Tamzin Outhwaite as Sylvie Morgan, recently divorced from absent Morgan brother, Tom
Jamie Bamber as Charlie Morgan, Annabelle’s widowed husband
Katie Clarkson-Hill as Jade, Charlie’s new girlfriend
Ben Willbond as Frankie Morgan, Beth’s husband
Jonathan Forbes as Sean Morgan, Natasha’s husband
Catriona Chandler as Sky, Annabelle and Charlie’s daughter
Louis Boyer as Luca Vella
Ajay Chhabra as Vinay Taneja

Sky (Catriona Chandler), Charlie (Jamie Bamber), Beth (Jo Joyner), Frankie (Ben Willbond), Jade (Katie Clarkson-Hill), Sylvie (Tamzin Outhwaite), Sean (Jonathan Forbes) and Natasha (Angela Griffin) gather at the foot of the cliff for Annabelle’s memorial. (Channel 5)

Is It Based On A Book?

Lots of books bear the title ‘The Wives’, but this Channel 5 TV series is not based on any of them. In fact, The Wives was written and created by screenwriter and novelist Helen Black who has worked on the likes of Death in Paradise, Grantchester, Time, and ITV’s upcoming buzzy series, Joan. Working for many years as a solicitor, Black’s writing career began with her penning a series of legal thriller novels centred on lawyer Lily Valentine – so she’s no stranger to writing a juicy crime drama.

Rather than strictly adapting a novel, Black tells Radio Times she drew inspiration from Daphne du Maurier’s 1938 novel Rebecca, in which a young woman marries a wealthy widower, Maxim de Winter, and moves to his estate. There, Maxim’s first wife, Rebecca, who died under mysterious circumstances, looms large over the newlyweds’ life. ‘The previous wife is spoken about with such deference and is held up as an angel, yet funnily enough the husband quickly finds a new partner, which arouses suspicions,’ Black explains ‘A dynamic I find interesting is that age in life when some friends are divorced or widowed, and a new partner enters that circle.’

In The Wives, that ‘new partner’ penetrating the circle is Jade (Katie Clarkson-Hill), who Black ‘loves’: ‘she enters that group so unapologetically and regards them as bonkers,’ Black says.

‘She is so unimpressed by them and Katie is fantastic at playing unimpressed. Jade sees the family for what they are.’