The Curfew lands on Channel 5 as the broadcaster’s latest crime thriller, following its original release on Paramount+ in October 2024. Adapted from a bestselling novel, the series tackles big themes around gender, safety and surveillance, and it wastes no time pulling viewers into its unsettling premise.
The drama brings together a strong cast including Sarah Parish, Anita Dobson, and Lucy Benjamin and sets its story in a near-future society where men live under strict movement controls. The system appears to work – until a shocking crime threatens to tear that carefully constructed order apart.
When the impossible happens, one question drives the story forward: could a man really have committed murder in a world where every movement is tracked?
Here’s everything you need to know about the Channel 5 crime drama The Curfew.
The cast of The Curfew includes Bobby Brazier, Sarah Parish, Alexander Burke, and Mandip Gill (Credit: Channel 5)
What’s The Curfew on Channel 5 about?
The Curfew takes place in an alternate universe where the Women’s Safety Act governs the lives of all men and boys over the age of 10. The law enforces a strict curfew from 7pm to 7am, while ankle tags monitor their movements 24 hours a day.
Men cannot live with partners unless the government grants them a vetted “cohabitation certificate”. As a result, women walk the streets at night without fear and head home alone feeling safe. Violent attacks and sexual assaults appear to have vanished. That sense of security collapses, however, when a murder occurs in what should be a near crime-free society.
The synopsis states: “Maverick Detective Pamela Green suspects a man is responsible when a dead body is found on the steps of the Women’s Safety Centre during curfew hours. This threatens to unravel the revered Women’s Safety Act and those determined to protect it at all costs.”
In a world where ankle tags track every man and curfew confines them indoors, can one of them really commit a crime?
Pamela reluctantly teams up with enthusiastic rookie DC Eddie Wilson, and together they begin piecing together what happened to the victim, risking the stability of the entire system.
The Curfew on Channel 5 filming locations
The production team filmed The Curfew in and around London in early 2024, with additional scenes shot in Berkshire.
The crew also used locations such as the Manygate Lane Estate in Shepperton, Surrey, a modernist residential development built in 1964 that helps create the show’s stark, near-future atmosphere.
Former soap star Lucy Benjamin stars as Sue Ferguson in The Curfew (Credit: Channel 5)
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