While Sweetpea’s lead character Rhiannon Lewis has gone her whole life without leaving much of an impression, everyone is about to know her name thanks to this new series.

After years of being continually overlooked at her work at a local newspaper, personal tragedies trigger a deadly chain of events – as these characters are about to find out.

For years, Rhiannon has been creating a mental kill list, and if you wrong her, you’re on it – and although she’s never acted on it, it’s only a matter of time.

But who are these people on her list, or in the tiny bubble she calls her world?

Here’s everything you need to know about the main stars of this brand new thriller, available on Sky Atlantic.

Played by: Ella Purnell (Fallout, Yellowjackets)

Rhiannon’s never been the centre of attention. Quiet and unassuming, she’s always found herself on the sidelines. Undermined. Undervalued. Unseen. She accepts this as her lot in life – keeps schtum, doesn’t make a fuss.

Instead, she comforts herself with a fantasy kill list, imagining bumping off each and every person who’s ever underestimated her: like her boss, Norman, who fails to recognise her potential; or Craig, the guy she had sex with, who only responds to her texts with emojis…

Every time they wrong her, they go on her list, and she goes on with her life – just a quiet wallflower with a very active imagination… That is, until Rhiannon’s father dies, and her vicious school bully, Julia, returns to town.

Suddenly, Rhiannon’s world feels like it’s crumbling. So when an arsehole on the canal pushes her too far, she snaps, and in a split second, killing goes from harmless fantasy to reality. And what’s more, Rhiannon learns she has a taste for it. It’s like it awakens in her a hidden power she never knew she had.

Suddenly people are paying attention, taking her seriously. Which makes it very hard to stop…

Played by: Nicole Lecky (Mood, Sense8)

Julia’s a luxury estate agent with a passion for “wellness” and girlboss mantras. A perennial popular girl, she’s just moved back to her hometown after a decade living up North with her handsome fiancé, Marcus.

She immediately resumes her position as Carnsham’s queen bee, with her perfect job, perfect fiancé, and all-round perfect life. Or at least, that’s what she wants people to think: there’s more going on behind closed doors. But if anyone’s a pro at hiding it (even from herself), it’s Julia.

She’s even convinced herself she didn’t bully Rhiannon at school. They were just kids; it wasn’t a big deal. Right? Wrong. And Rhiannon won’t let Julia forget it. Especially not now she’s gained so much confidence… So after a messy game of cat and mouse, Julia is forced to confront the monster she was – and the one she created in Rhiannon, in turn.

But with all their dirty secrets finally laid bare, how easy is it to distinguish the bullies from the victims?

Played by: Calam Lynch (Bridgerton, Lord Of The Rings: Rings of Power)

Affable, smart, and handsome, AJ’s the sort of guy who always seems to land on his feet. Take his new job at the Gazette: Rhiannon’s been chasing it for months, but in waltzes AJ with zero experience or proven ability and gets an offer on the spot. Why? Because he’s charming and confident (and because Norman, the Editor, fancies his mum…).

Somehow, things just work out for him. The only one who isn’t taken with AJ is Rhiannon. She thinks he is yet another entitled nepo-baby who gets the stuff she deserves. But AJ and Rhiannon have chemistry: it’s like he’s the only one who sees her sharper edges and likes them. And she’s the only one who sees he’s chancing it – but sweet beneath it all.

Gradually something starts to brew between them; they awaken mischief in each other. But what will AJ do when he realises Rhiannon’s darkness extends beyond routine office pranks?

Played by: Jon Pointing (Big Boys, Smothered)

A handyman with a warm heart, Craig is a simple man of simple pleasures, and his ambitions follow suit. He’s been working as a builder for Rhiannon’s dad, Tommy, for the last three years and is comfortable - complacent even. He’s happy with his life the way it is - mates, birds, and beers. That is, until he is confronted by the new and improved Rhiannon.

Before her transformation, he saw her as the gaffer’s daughter - a drunken one-night stand who wouldn’t get the hint. Now he sees her as girlfriend material. Craig turns his back on his fuck-boy days and starts to think about settling down and moving on in his career.

But Rhiannon’s transformation brings with it a little more than he bargained for – is she looking for love? Or revenge…?

Played by: Leah Harvey (Foundation, A Gentleman in Moscow)

Marina is a smart, driven junior detective. She’s looking to step up this year but is struggling to get noticed within a backwards and often dismissive team. It doesn’t help that she doesn’t present like your usual detective: her colleagues find it easy to underestimate her - much like Rhiannon’s.

She has to work twice as hard to get their approval, but she makes sure she does. She’s sharp, hungry for it, and has something to prove - which makes her a worrying rival for Rhiannon. She’s also Rhiannon’s perfect foil: both women experienced bullying at school, but each has taken different routes to tackling it in adulthood.

Where Rhiannon opts for erratic, passionate, bloody murder, Marina prefers her revenge served cold, via the long arm of the law. Marina takes solace in the quiet power this institution affords her.

For years she even fantasised about getting her school bully locked up for some minor offence, and her being the one to serve it. Now, as a copper, she makes sure she listens to everyone - probes everyone. She plays a slow game, keeps her cards close to her chest, and knows not to underestimate the little guy…

Played by: Jeremy Swift (Ted Lasso, Downton Abbey)

Our office comic relief, Norman is the definition of a Boomer - but not in a grim way; he’s just a little out of step with the world - aware enough to know things have changed, but not quite aware enough to know how…

He enjoys his status as Editor of the Gazette, peacocking through the office and giving orders - but once he retreats into his office we get the sense he’s not doing much work. Rhiannon often walks in on him, out of breath, doing tricep dips (‘Doc says I’m a ticking time bomb for a cardiovascular event!’) or deleting private correspondence from his work emails. He’s also constantly underestimating Rhiannon: pretty, diligent, and quiet, he can’t help calling her Sweetpea.

But as she gains confidence and demands a place in the office, he’s forced to listen - not least because her work’s actually good. Eventually, he comes to rely on her and even takes credit for discovering this new journalistic talent…

Played by: Dustin Demri-Burns (Slow Horses, Am I Being Unreasonable?)

The office pedant - Jeff is arrogant, self-important, and uncompromising in a way that masks a deeper insecurity he’d never admit to. A Gazette lifer, and the most senior reporter in the office - he’s confident of his position and totally unwilling to give it up for some new upstart like Rhiannon.

Middle-aged and stuck in his ways, he likes his hobbies - especially cycling. When Rhiannon makes headway at work, Jeff is increasingly usurped, peeved, and petty about it. He starts putting those investigative instincts to good use: something about Rhiannon’s sudden progression feels off to him, and it’s not just because he’s competitive.

As the series unfolds, he’ll grow determined to figure out where she’s getting her leads and what’s driving this newfound confidence. The scoop, when he gets it, is more shocking than he could have imagined, and could well be the death of him…

Played by: Dino Kelly (Trigger Point, Alexander: The Making Of A God)

A local property developer, Marcus is tall, toned, and handsome with a winning smile and charm to match. He’s the sort of man women find themselves involuntarily giggling and hair-twirling around, and he knows it… though he’s smart enough to pretend he doesn’t.

Most of the time he seems friendly – modest, even. The thing about Marcus is that he’s delightful when he’s getting his way. When he doesn’t, you feel it – a subtle twist in the smile; a stubbornness. And then it’s gone.

Eventually, we’ll learn there’s much more to his and Julia’s marriage than meets the eye. Julia wants out, and he won’t let her.

Played by: Ingrid Oliver (Doctor Who, The Watch)

D.I. Diana St. John is one of those bosses who you love but wish could just get it together. She’s always forgetting her pincode or passcode or pinword ‘or whatever the fuck it’s called,’ which means Marina often has to do grunt work for her that she’s way overqualified for: sourcing emails, picking up her dry-cleaning, or washing mustard stains out of Di’s carpet.

Diana’s apologetic about it, to be fair, but she reckons she’s good enough at her job and been around long enough that she’s earned it. Besides, she’d rather pour her energy into what matters: training a good team and cracking cases. And she’s bloody good at it: turns out the same lateral part of her brain that can’t remember where she parked her car last night is the same part that’s able to make smart leaps on a case.

But she gives Marina a hard time. Diana knows what it is to be a younger woman coming up in the force, and she sympathises. But she also knows what it is to be chippy to the point of ruin, and she’s going to knock that trait out of Marina if it’s the last thing she does. Marina doesn’t see it this way, of course, but Di does it because she cares.