The first images have arrived for Black Palace, the period thriller starring Martin Clunes that places a young spy at the heart of Buckingham Palace during Jack the Ripper’s reign of terror in 1888. The film is currently in post-production, with worldwide sales handled by New Regency.
Directed by BAFTA-winning director Nick Hamm, Black Palace follows a young woman sent to work at Buckingham Palace with a single task: spy on Queen Victoria’s wayward grandson, who keeps disappearing at night. According to IMDb, the story at its core is one of forbidden love between a prince and a lady-in-waiting, set against the backdrop of a city gripped by fear. As she grows closer to the prince, the young woman finds herself traversing what the film’s synopsis describes as ‘a maze of privilege and poverty’, uncovering secrets that threaten both the Crown and her own survival.
Black Palace Martin Clunes: the cast and the story
Alongside Clunes, the film is led by Freya Allan and Kodi Smit-McPhee. Joe Anders, Raffey Cassidy, Iain Glen and Juliet Stevenson also star.
The full synopsis sets the scene: ‘In the Autumn of 1888, as the emerging tabloid media terrify the public with lurid stories of Jack the Ripper, a young woman is sent to work at the heart of Queen Victoria’s British Empire: Buckingham Palace. Her task is to spy on Victoria’s wayward grandson who keeps disappearing at night. As she grows closer to the prince, traversing a maze of privilege and poverty, she uncovers secrets which threaten both the Crown and her own survival.’
It is a premise that layers the personal and the political, the romantic and the genuinely frightening, in ways that feel particularly rich for the period.
Nick Hamm on directing Black Palace
Hamm, whose credits include William Tell, has spoken about the tonal balancing act that the project demanded. ‘Directing Black Palace has been both a privilege and a unique challenge,’ he said. ‘The film is constantly shifting between question and answer, tone and perspective, and that demanded a similarly fluid approach to genre.’
He continued: ‘One moment needing to thrill, the next to enchant; extreme fear had to sit alongside extreme passion. Much like the play within the story, the film itself becomes a kind of Jekyll and Hyde experience: romantic and terrifying, seductive and unsettling in equal measure. I can’t wait to share it with audiences.’
The Black Palace Martin Clunes pairing is already generating interest ahead of a release date being confirmed, and given the calibre of the ensemble assembled around them, the anticipation is understandable.
Clunes keeps busy with Down Cemetery Road
Black Palace is not the only project keeping Clunes occupied. Following his role in Wuthering Heights earlier this year, he was spotted this month filming scenes for the second series of Down Cemetery Road, joining Emma Thompson and Ruth Wilson on set.
The synopsis for series two teases a new mystery for Thompson’s Zoë Boehm and Wilson’s Sarah Trafford: ‘After a woman falls in front of a train, Zoë is called in to investigate, but this seemingly simple case soon upends her life as she and Sarah find themselves navigating the glamorous but ruthless world of black market antiquities. Matters take a deadly turn when they stumble into the path of a brutal serial killer who will stop at nothing to cover up his crimes.’
It is a busy period for Clunes, moving from a Victorian palace thriller steeped in Ripper-era dread directly into a contemporary crime mystery with one of British television’s most talked-about ensembles.
Black Palace is currently in post-production, with New Regency handling worldwide sales. No release date has been announced.
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