{"id":644812,"date":"2026-06-18T06:16:19","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T06:16:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/644812\/"},"modified":"2026-06-18T06:16:19","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T06:16:19","slug":"stephen-grahams-best-performance-save-me-is-the-beyond-brilliant-crime-drama-to-binge-tonight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/644812\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cStephen Graham\u2019s best performance\u201d: Save Me is the \u201cbeyond brilliant\u201d crime drama to binge tonight"},"content":{"rendered":"

What would you do if you your estranged daughter went missing and suddenly you were accused of abducting her? That\u2019s the unenviable situation Nelson \u201cNelly\u201d Rowe (Lennie James) finds himself in Sky\u2019s beyond brilliant crime drama<\/a> Save Me. And while Lennie shines in the lead role, we\u2019re also treated to what, in our opinion, is Stephen Graham<\/a>\u2019s best performance.<\/p>\n

The series, which is also created by Lennie himself, takes us along on Nelly\u2019s quest to both find his daughter and prove his innocence – an endeavour that his best friend, Melon (played by Stephen), is crucial to. But Melon also has a shady past \u2013 he\u2019s a convicted sex offender and he wants nothing more than to show everyone, including himself, that he\u2019s reformed. <\/p>\n

With Save Me and the follow-up series, Save Me Too, now available to binge in full, here\u2019s everything you need to know about the crime drama, including the plot, cast and how to watch it. <\/p>\n

What is Save Me about?\"suranne<\/p>\n

Sky<\/p>\n

The series, which comes from the producers of Line of Duty and is created by Lennie James, introduces us to central character Nelson \u201cNelly\u201d Rowe (played by Lennie himself). When his estranged 13-year-old daughter, Jody (Indeyarna Donaldson-Holness), goes missing, he\u2019s the first to be accused of abducting her. <\/p>\n

Interestingly, Nelly hasn\u2019t spoken to his daughter in 10 years and, despite fingers pointing at him, he drops everything to try and find her. Perhaps unsurprisingly, his quest to find her takes Nelly to some very dark places \u2013 but it\u2019s also the start a journey to becoming a better man. <\/p>\n

\"episode<\/p>\n

Sky<\/p>\n

Over the course of the first series, we meet several others connected to both Nelly and Jody, including Nelly\u2019s former lover, Claire (Suranne Jones), his girlfriend Martin (Kerry Godliman) and Nelly\u2019s loyal best friend (Stephen Graham), a convicted sex offender who wants to put the past behind him. And when we say it\u2019s Stephen\u2019s best performance, we really do mean it. <\/p>\n

Series one proved such a hit with viewers that a second series, Save Me Too, was released in 2020, which is set 17 months after the events of the first instalment. Less has changed than you might imagine, however, as Jody is still missing. And while Nelly has found some sense of stability thanks partly to a new relationship with Zita (Camilla Beeput), he refuses to rest until his daughter is found. <\/p>\n

\"save<\/p>\n

Justin Downing<\/p>\n

Stephen Graham, who was nominated for a BAFTA for his role (he should have won but sadly didn’t!) told the Royal Television Society: \u201cIt was a no-brainer, it was such a great role. Nick [Murphy, the director] creates an atmosphere for you to play and there\u2019s so much freedom, but you still know your dialogue because he\u2019s a stickler for that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Star Lennie James told TV Guide: \u201cIn addition to being a gripping crime thriller, it\u2019s also a character-driven portrait of a downwardly mobile London life with an immersive sense of realism. It’s the story of a man who never did anything for anyone who gets pushed to finally do something. The dialogue isn’t improvised, but it feels like it is. The series showcases James’ skill as a writer as well as an actor.\u201d<\/p>\n

Who\u2019s in the cast of Save Me?\"episode<\/p>\n

Ollie Upton<\/p>\n

The main cast of Save Me includes: <\/p>\n

Lennie James (Mr Loverman) as Nelson \u201cNelly\u201d RoweIndeyarna Donaldson-Holness (Deep Water) as Jody, Lennie\u2019s daughterKerry Godliman (Whitstable Pearl<\/a>) as Martine “Teens” Betts, Nelly\u2019s girlfriendStephen Graham (Little Boy Blue<\/a>) as Fabio \u201cMelon\u201d Melonzola, Nelly\u2019s best friendSuranne Jones (Frauds) as Claire McGory, Nelly\u2019s former loverBarry Ward (Maze) as Barry McGory, Claire\u2019s husbandJason Flemyng (Prime Target) as Tam, Nelly\u2019s friend Nicholas Croucher (The French Dispatch) as Dylan Jenson, Jody\u2019s best friendAdrian Edmondson (Bottom) as Gideon CharlesLesley Manville (Midwinter Break<\/a>) as Jennifer Charles (series 2)Is Save Me any good?\"lennie<\/p>\n

Sky<\/p>\n

Yes – it\u2019s absolutely brilliant. When the first series was released in 2018, it became the most rapidly binged box set release on Sky, which isn\u2019t surprising given how compelling it is. The trio of Stephen Graham, Lennie James and Suranne Jones is as good as you\u2019d expect, and the three of them bring a gritty, sometimes challenging, story to life in a way only they know how. <\/p>\n

How can I watch Save Me? <\/p>\n

Save Me series one and two are available to watch now on Sky and NOW<\/a>. <\/p>\n

What other Stephen Graham dramas can I watch now?\"pof_0172_raw.jpg\"<\/p>\n

Aidan Monaghan<\/p>\n

One of Stephen\u2019s most compelling roles is as mentally unstable loner, Robert Green, in A Patch of Fog<\/a>. When he catches TV personality, Sandy (Conleth Hill) shoplifting, he does a deal with him: he won\u2019t tell the police, as long as Sandy goes for a drink with him. A Patch of Fog is available to watch on Disney+<\/a>. For a profoundly moving series, we\u2019d recommend The Virtues<\/a>. Stephen plays recovering alcoholic, Joseph, who relapses and subsequently decides to board a boat to Ireland and confront years of suppressed memories from his past. You can watch The Virtues now on Channel 4<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"What would you do if you your estranged daughter went missing and suddenly you were accused of abducting…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":644813,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[186091,96,217253,217254,7355,41469,391,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-644812","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-crime-drama","tag-entertainment","tag-save-me","tag-save-me-too","tag-sky","tag-stephen-graham","tag-tv","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/644812","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=644812"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/644812\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/644813"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=644812"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=644812"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=644812"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}