'Our House' To Air On PBS In August

The title Our House for a certain generation will conjure up either 1960s sitcoms or old MTV videos and new wave Madness, but here in 2023, it's not in the middle of our street, but on PBS. The ITV  "real estate thriller" series, based on Louise Candlish's best-selling novel of the same name, debuted across the pond in 2022 and arrived on PBS Passport in May 2023. Now, the series will air on most PBS stations starting in early August, helping cover the space between the end of Grantchester/Ridley/DI Ray and the debut of Professor T/Unforgotten/Van der Valk.

Like the current run of Walter Presents series coming from PBS Passport to broadcast, Our House will be offered to local PBS stations as part of their Thursday night lineups. Unlike the Sunday night schedule, which most PBS stations opt into, Thursday is far more of a catch as catch can. PBS left it as an open schedule for over a decade after Mystery! moved to Sundays with Masterpiece in 2007, and many stations already have local programming lineups that draw dedicated audiences that night. In other words, though Our House technically debuts Thursday, August 3, viewers should check their local listings carefully, as it could debut Friday, Saturday, or even the week after. 

Louise Candlish's Our House comes via Red Planet Pictures (Death In Paradise), who have already picked up further Candlish novels for adaptation due to the series' success in the U.K. Candlish's 2016’s The Swimming Pool is already in pre-production, with plans to adapt the upcoming release The Only Suspect in the next year or two. Screenwriter Simon Ashdown (EastEnders), who adapted Our House, is already on board for the latter, while The Swimming Pool will be produced by Elizabeth Kesses- Delport. Hopefully, both will also come to PBS after their U.K. debuts.

Here's the series synopsis, per ITV:

Our House narrates the story of Fiona Lawson who arrives home one day to find strangers moving into her house.  With all her family’s possessions and furniture nowhere to be seen, Fi believes there’s been a huge mistake and insists her home isn’t for sale.  With events spiralling beyond her control, we feel her panic rising as she can’t reach estranged husband, Bram. As she reflects upon the safe space in which she and her family had made a life together, Fi begins to peel back the layers of her relationship and discovers her husband has also disappeared. With her life shattered, she realises the secrets and lies have only just begun, but her husband isn’t the only one with things to hide……

Tuppence Middleton (Downton Abbey) stars as Fi, with Martin Compston (Line of Duty) as Bram. Rupert Perry-Jones (The Drowning) co-stars alongside Buket Komur (Honour), Weruche Opia (I May Destroy You), Dinita Gohil (Treason), Felix Scott (Miss Scarlet & The Duke), and Bronagh Waugh (Ridley). Maureen Beattie (Deadwater Fell), Harriet Webb (The Tower), Patrick Brennan (Call The Midwife), Tommy Finnegan (After Life), and newcomer Casper Knopf also appear in supporting roles. Director Sheree Folkson (The Great) helmed all four installments.

Our House is scheduled to air weekly on PBS stations on Thursday, August 3, 2023, at 9 p.m. ET, but please check your local listings because not every station will follow that. All four episodes are available on PBS Passport for members.