Apple has announced that M. Night Shyamalan’s forthcoming thriller series will be available on its new streaming service.
Servant, which tells the story of a couple grieving after losing their baby, will premiere worldwide on Apple TV+ on November 28, a few weeks after the subscription platform’s launch on November 1.
The psychological thriller stars Lauren Ambrose (Six Feet Under), Toby Kebbell (Kong: Skull Island), Nell Tiger Free (Game of Thrones) and Rupert Grint (Harry Potter). A trailer was shown during Apple’s announcement at New York Comic Con yesterday (October 3).
The show sees Philadelphia couple Dorothy (played by Ambrose) and Sean Turner (Kebbell) trying to cope after losing their baby. They bring a life-like doll into their house as part of a fringe coping therapy.
Dorothy is so taken by the doll that she enlists a strange nanny (Free) to watch her. Grint plays Sean’s brother in the series.
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Shyamalan, who is known for directing The Sixth Sense and Glass, said during the event that Servant heralds a new television format. “We’ve all grown up with 30-minute situation comedies, the sitcom; this is a sit-thriller,” he said. “With television, you can have a different trajectory of movement [than a longer film]; because you’re going for 30 minutes, you gobble them up. There’s no fat on the bone” [via Deadline].
The director and executive producer of the show added that he imagines Servant – written and executive produced by Tony Basgallop – will zoom through around six 10-episode seasons.
Basgallop, who was also present at the talk, added: “The trailer represents what the show is. For me, it all dates back to having kids and the fear that anything can go wrong at any time. I’m clumsy, and you get through it but your life absolutely changes. And whenever you do drama, change is a good thing and you put your characters in uncomfortable positions.”