Yahoo News ITV’s The Bay: Who are the main suspects?
Note: contains major spoilers for The Bay episode one.
Twins Dylan (Noah Valentine) and Holly (Darci Shaw) are missing, and Detective Sergeant Lisa Armstrong (Morven Christie) is on the case.
But what begins as a missing persons investigation is upgraded to a Category A murder when Dylan is found dead on the beach. Meanwhile, the whereabouts of Holly are still unknown.
But who is responsible, and is Holly also dead or is she being held hostage or staying away of her own accord?
This lot all caught our eye for one reason or another, but are any of them capable of murder?
With five more episodes left, the field is wide open.
Sean Meredith: the step-dad
Following the first episode, Sean (Jonas Armstrong) is currently the prime suspect. He's unwilling to cooperate fully with the police investigation, refusing to answer questions about his whereabouts on the night the twins disappeared – we don't know where he was between 10.44pm and 11.40pm.
Both Sean and his workmates had told the police that they were out drinking together all evening, Sean returning home around midnight, but we now know that isn't true. So where did he go?
We know he was with Lisa for roughly 10 minutes after they met in the pub, but that still doesn’t account for the other 40.
His body language also suggests that he's hiding something. Sean is highly agitated, regularly raising his voice and swearing at the police. When Lisa and her colleague Med (Taheen Modak) are searching the twins’ room, he tells them that it’s a waste of time and what they should be doing is searching for Dylan and Holly.
We also find out that there have been reports from neighbours about raised voices between Dylan and Sean, something that prompted a social worker to investigate previously.
Sean rubbishes those claims, as does Jess (Chanel Cresswell), the grieving mother, who jumps in to say that Sean never raised a hand to Dylan – her son had spent time in hospital, but that was because he fell off his bike and had nothing to do with Sean. But you really do get the sense that the relationship between Dylan and Sean isn’t a good one.
Lee ward, the twins’ biological dad, also tells the police that Sean is “bad news”.
However, this is a TV drama we’re talking about, and surely it’s not only too obvious that Sean, despite his arrest, is responsible for Dylan’s death and the disappearance of Holly, but there are also five episodes to go.
Sean is definitely guilty of something, but it remains to be seen how severe that something is.
Lee Ward: the biological dad
Lee (Ciaran Griffiths) says that he hasn’t had any contact with Dylan or Holly for many years. His marriage to Jess became “messy”, they divorced and Lee lost the kids, Jess raising the twins with Sean.
But it’s not clear who the blame lies with. Jess says Lee was a terrible father, but Lee accuses Jess of telling their children lies about him, painting a bad picture.
The fact that Lee came forward when he heard the police appeal suggests that he isn’t guilty – and not only does he seem genuinely distraught, Lisa believes that he is “straight up", so we're probably going to rule this one out.
Ryan, Krzysztof and Nick: Sean’s fisherman workmates
There’s nothing particularly suspicious about these three, other than the fact that they live in the area and, through Sean, know Dylan and Holly. Ryan (Philip Hill-Pearson) is also the twins uncle.
When Nick (Matthew McNulty) arrives at the beach to say that he’s heard the news and wants to help look for them, he does seem somewhat anxious, and Sean does ask him if he’s okay. But that could just be because he’s concerned about the twins.
Also, we know that Sean went drinking with Ryan and Krzysztof (Jordan Mifsud) after work, which probably rules them out, but it doesn't look like Nick was with them.
Could he have something to do with it?
Sam: school student
Again, there's very little to suggest that Sam (Louis Greatorex) is guilty of anything, but something has clearly rattled him. When Lisa's daughter Abbie (Imogen King) sends him a text during a school assembly about the missing kids, he doesn’t respond. And when she confronts him later in the school corridor, he looks edgy and doesn’t want to talk, snapping at Abbie before telling her to leave him alone.
He could just be having a bad day or be upset with Abbie for some reason. Then again, he could be involved in something dark.
But what that might be isn’t clear at the moment.
Vincent: a builder
Vincent (Adam Long) is the builder that Abbie meets when she goes to visit the old amusement arcade. There’s nothing to indicate that he's guilty of anything at the moment but he has a name, which suggests that he's going to be sticking around for a while and will have a somewhat important role to play.
What that role entails, however, is currently a mystery.
Rob: Lisa's son
There's clearly something bothering Rob (Art Parkinson). We see him on his laptop and he looks extremely concerned, not the mention slamming it shut when his grandma Penny (Lindsey Coulson) walks into his room to tell him that dinner is ready.
When she leaves, he reopens his laptop where he continues chatting to someone called Bantasaurusrex, who writes, "Go on then."
Rob replies, "Ready when you are," to which his friend says, "Prove it."
Prove what? What is Rob involved in, and is it linked to the disappearance of Dylan and Holly?
It’s unlikely that he's tied up in the same situation as Sam because following Abbie and Sam's bust-up at school, Rob appears and asks his sister if everything is okay, clearly clueless about what's going on.
But he's obviously caught up in something that he shouldn't be.
Mystery man or woman
This is a six-part drama, so there’s a very good chance that other characters will be thrown into the mix further down the line.
But who they are and what part they'll play is currently unknown.
The Bay returns on Wednesday, March 27 at 9pm on ITV.
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