Gone review: David Morrissey is bone-chilling in ITV coercive control thriller

Only the first episode was made available for review at the time of writing.

David Morrissey last appeared on screen in the second season of Daddy Issues, a BBC comedy in which he plays an incompetent yet well-meaning man trying to rebuild his relationship with his daughter (Aimee Lou Wood) while adapting to life as a first-time granddad.

It's a delightful and inspired departure from the grittier roles he's come to be recognised for (Sherwood, State of Play, The Walking Dead), although delivered with the same commitment as those performances.

But Morrissey returns to his bread and butter in ITV crime thriller Gone. Written by George Kay – who also penned Yorkshire Ripper drama The Long Shadow, in which Morrissey also starred – it could well be his most unsettling work to date.

He plays Michael Polly, the headmaster of a renowned private school in Bristol – the Range Rover and Latin kind – who takes Britain's stiff upper lip to an entirely new level.

He returns home from work one afternoon with his daughter Alana – played with authentic emotional honesty by Emma Appleton, who also teaches at the school – only to discover that his wife Sarah, another teacher there, is missing.

Alana's concern is immediate – Sarah was scheduled to take a music lesson with a pupil at the house, so it's highly unlikely she's simply popped out to grab some milk.

Michael, by contrast, appears entirely unmoved. His demeanour is no different from when he's addressing pupils during morning assembly or dealing with paperwork. And as the hours crawl by, it's Alana – not Michael – who takes charge of the situation, despite his need for iron-clad control in every other aspect of his life.

She's desperately trying to get to the bottom of her mum's absence. He appears more concerned with the school rugby team's chances of winning the championship.

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It's a chilling display from Morrissey. Michael's lack of reaction – which might instil confidence and calm in any other crisis – feels deeply unnatural here. And that feeling is dialled up to 100 at the end of the first episode, when he breaks the fourth wall in such a confronting manner, it's as though he's staring directly into your soul.

You'll find yourself wanting to look away, but unable to, such is Morrissey's hold over the scene.

But like a spring wound far too tightly, there are moments when his eerie restraint loosens and the quiet rage that is always there, just beneath the surface, breaks through.

Is that merely a defence mechanism? Perhaps her dad is simply a product of his environment, unwilling or unable to display emotion, however natural that would be in such difficult circumstances.

Or is there something more sinister at play?

DS Annie Cassidy (Eve Myles) certainly has her suspicions, describing him, somewhat kindly, as a "funny fish".

As the hours continue to tick by, a missing person's investigation is launched; Michael makes a public appeal for Sarah to come home; and further troubling details come to light: Sarah's phone is found under the bed by one of the detectives. Did she drop it in a hurry? Could it have landed there during an argument?

Annie is itching to uncover the truth, and Myles does an excellent job of conveying her need, rather than just her desire, to uncover what happened to Sarah – because this goes beyond simply doing her job. It's personal.

Eight years on, there have been no developments in the Tina Bradley case – not so much cold as frozen since the young woman's unexplained disappearance.

During that time, Annie has grown close to Tina's mum Carol (Clare Higgins), who at the beginning of the series you might mistake for her own mother, before you come to understand the lay of the land.

It's a clever move for those who have gone into the series blind – and one inspired by the work of former Detective Superintendent Julie Mackay of Gloucestershire Police, who solved the cold case murder of 17-year-old Melanie Road more than three decades after it happened.

The teenager was sexually assaulted and stabbed 26 times on her way home from a night out in Bath in June 1984.

While that approach could easily feel gimmicky – and some may see it that way – Kay weaves fact and fiction together with sensitivity, adding an extra layer of jeopardy to Gone. It also brings Melanie Road's name back into the public consciousness, ensuring she is not forgotten while tying into the series' wider comment on male violence against women and girls (MVAWG), something that also surfaces in Annie's personal life.

Her ex partner Craig, also a detective, is keen to rekindle their relationship, but she's wary — and for good reason.

"He didn't like you doing anything, ever," says Carol, who warns her to stay away from him, and Annie knows she should. But you can feel her wavering, such is the insidious nature of coercive control.

It's subtly done — although we anticipate that strand of the drama will escalate across the six episodes. And it also illustrates that no one, no matter how successful, assured or gutsy you might be, is immune. Domestic abuse does not discriminate.

We don't yet know what has happened to Sarah, but the trailer reveals she was "scared" of Michael. And while Annie's story is not Sarah's, nor Tina's, an invisible thread links all three women.

Gone promises to be a compelling watch, but more than that, its exploration of MVAWG — particularly within the supposed sanctity of the home — gives it real staying power.

Gone premieres on Sunday 8 March at 9pm on ITV1.

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