Aidan Turner Is Accused of Being a Predator in the Trailer for 'Fifteen-Love'

When TV drama series focus on hot-button issues, there is a tendency to distill things into a simple formula. One side is Good, the other Bad; we are supposed to root for the former. Even amid prestige TV's height, with anti-heroes all the rage, someone is unmasked as truly terrible in order for everyone to root for the chosen lead. It's why so many series that attempt to parse complex issues like consent and sexual assault usually end up feeling a little too after-school special. However, Fifteen-Love, which streamed on Amazon Prime UK in 2023 and will now debut on AMC+ and Sundance Now, is the rare show that insists on showing just how complex these stories are.

On the surface, Fifteen-Love looks like the simple tale of a teenage prodigy struck down by a career-ending injury, who in her mid-20s comes forward and accuses her former coach of statutory rape when she was underage. She says she wants to keep him from doing it to anyone else; he says she resents that he still has a career when hers went up in flames. In his corner are her old friends who claim she crushed on him and it was never returned, and adults who wonder why she never said anything before then. On her side are the social mores that demand we believe women and that all of his excuses sound like the classic predator archetype.

However, the six-part series never lets viewers pick a side and stick to it. Instead, it considers the parts we don't discuss, like the forced early maturity of teenage sports prodigies and the arrested development so many suffer when that career ends. It looks at the emotional, financial, and day-to-day practical considerations that make people disregard what they do and don't want to see. Sadly, most Americans will never see it because no one watches Sundance Now or AMC+.

Here's the series synopsis:

Teen tennis prodigy Justine Pearce's French Open success is shattered by a tragedy; five years later, her world is rocked once more when her former coach, Glenn Lapthorn, returns home having won the French with his new player. When she makes an explosive allegation against her former coach, Justine and Glenn’s battle over the truth of their past reaches new heights – all while both seek glory at the Grand Slam grass-court event of the year, and the stately world of professional tennis is rocked by lies, deceit, and a desperate bid for control.

Newcomer Ella Lily Hyland stars as Justine, with Aidan Turner (Poldark) co-starring opposite her as her now-former coach. The series also features Elizabeth Berrington (Good Omens), Tom Varey (Ridley Road), Harmony Rose Bremner (Death in Paradise), Steffan Rhodri (Steeltown Murders), Lorenzo Richelmy (Hotel Portofino), Anna Chancellor (My Lady Jane), Amar Chadha-Patel (The Decameron), Manon Azem (Hashtag Boomer), and Jess Darrow (Encanto).

Hania Elkington (The Essex Serpent) conceived of and wrote all six episodes of the series, with directors Toby MacDonald (Extraordinary) and Eva Riley (Perfect 10) splitting helming duties. Elkington, MacDonald, and Riley are all credited as executive producers on the series, along with Jake Lushington for World Productions.

Fifteen-Love debuts with a two-episode premiere on Thursday, August 22, on both Sundance Now and AMC+, with one a week to follow through Thursday, September 19, 2024.