Watch: Trailer for HBO’s ‘The Leftovers’ with Christopher Eccleston

Christopher Eccleston gets dramatic in "The Leftovers" (Photo: HBO)
Christopher Eccleston gets dramatic in "The Leftovers" (Photo: HBO)
HBO’s new series The Leftovers, which premieres this weekend, features a very familiar British face in its cast that will be of special interest to Doctor Who fans.

The drama is adapted from the 2011 Tom Perrotta novel of the same name, and tells the story of a suburb called Mapleton, after the world has seen 2% of its population disappear in a Rapture-like event. The residents who are left behind – the “leftovers”, if you will – must learn how to survive and cope in the aftermath. Which, if the trailers are anything to go by, predominantly seems to involve joining a bunch of cults and/or existing in a day-to-day state of general creeping dread and emotional upset.

This is fine though, because it looks awesome. 

Justin Theroux stars as police chief Kevin Garney, and leads an all-star cast that includes such familiar faces as the former Ninth Doctor Christoper Eccleston. Eccleston, who’s returning to American TV after a rather substantial absence, plays Matt Jamison, a former reverend who currently publishes his own tabloid.

The cast also features such notables as Liv Tyler, Amy Brenneman, Amanda Warren, Anne Dowd, Chris Zylka, Michael Gaston and more.

Watch for yourselves below: 

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The Leftovers was created by Damon Lindelof, who most television viewers will remember as the man behind ground breaking sci-fi series Lost.

If you’re interested, there’s also another short teaser, where you can hear more of Eccleston's new American accent: 

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As a fan of Eccleston’s work generally – and his Doctor, particularly – it’s exciting to finally get to see him on American TV again. To be fair, he’s done some great work outside of Who, but, sadly, dramas like The Shadow Line and Blackout never seem to have found American distributors, though they’re both well worth a watch if you’re making an Amazon UK order anytime soon. But, hurrah, at least it sounds like he’ll have a rather substantial part in this, which is something.

The Leftovers premieres June 29 on HBO. 

 


Lacy Baugher

Lacy's love of British TV is embarrassingly extensive, but primarily centers around evangelizing all things Doctor Who, and watching as many period dramas as possible.

Digital media type by day, she also has a fairly useless degree in British medieval literature, and dearly loves to talk about dream poetry, liminality, and the medieval religious vision. (Sadly, that opportunity presents itself very infrequently.) York apologist, Ninth Doctor enthusiast, and unabashed Ravenclaw. Say hi on Threads or Blue Sky at @LacyMB. 

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