Character biographies
The second series of Jess Brittain’s seductive, university-set psychological thriller Clique (6 x 45’) will air weekly from Saturday 10 November on 成人论坛 Three.
Published: 5 November 2018
Holly (Synnøve Karlsen)
Holly is trying to put the past behind her, hiding behind a carefully crafted façade of ‘normal’ student life. Living with Louise, Rayna and Fraser has offered Holly a ready-made friendship group and the easy security she thought she needed. But Holly is struggling to connect, and when Jack and his colourful clique smash into her world, Holly can’t help but be intrigued.
What starts as a flirtation with their libertarian values quickly descends into something darker, when a campus-wide scandal hits both her friends at home and the boys she is so drawn to. Once again, it falls upon Holly to seek out the truth, whatever the cost.
As Holly steps deeper into a web of lies she is forced to admit her attempts at being a ‘normal’ student were never going to be successful. She is powerless against her need to find the truth. And always, lurking in the background of Holly’s life and mind, is Rachel - Holly’s best friend and greatest fear. Bound together by their childhood, Holly knows that Rachel is possibly the only person who truly understands her. But what does it mean when a psychopath can read you better than anyone?
Rachel (Rachel Hurd-Wood)
Rachel has been enjoying an uncharacteristic period of quiet obedience from the secure unit she was placed in after the events of series one. But Rachel is a psychopath and bored, ready for her next adventure.
As always, her focus is on Holly - the only person she believes is like her. So far she has been unsuccessful in making Holly truly understand that, but when Holly starts to visit her again, Rachel can see something in her eyes - the suggestion that Holly is ready to connect again.
No one is better than Rachel at finding out what people are hiding - so the opportunity to work alongside Holly in the wake of a terrible event is all that Rachel has been waiting for. But as events unfold we will be reminded that Rachel’s true aims have never been about uncovering corruption, or putting things right in the world.
Louise (Sophia Brown)
Louise’s world came crashing down last year when Holly uncovered the truth about Solasta and the clique. She has rebuilt with typical Louise-excellence: a new course, new housemates and a new approach to life. Only one thing is missing - the close friendship with Holly she knows they both crave and need.
Holly has been hard to get close to, and that fact is quickly exacerbated when they have fundamentally different responses to a terrible event that strikes at the heart of their world. But as events develop, Louise is forced to confront her own assumptions of what happened and follow Holly into the fray. Her cleverness, warmth and effortless leadership skills make Louise formidable.
Jack (Leo Suter)
Jack is a natural alpha: his leadership of the clique effortless, without a plan, just kind of inevitable. He’s magnetic, physically and in personality; garrulous, mischievous and, in the right light, pretty dangerous. He’s pretty built too - the series opening with him crushing it at the gym.
Jack may be quite damaged underneath that, but he’s made himself anew since leaving home. Calum and he are as close as siblings and both Barney and Aubrey idolize him. But a storm is gathering from the time he meets Holly - one that could knock him off his axis...
Calum (Nicholas Nunn)
Calum seems to know what people are thinking before they do. Charming with a dry wit, Calum can convert whomever he’s talking to, to whatever he’s talking about.
He’s clever, canny, protective of Jack - with whom he has an elemental-like connection - and at first, very suspicious of Holly, whilst presenting himself as perhaps the friendliest of the clique.
Barney (Barney Harris)
Barney seems as though he should be wearing a tux and debating market capital over port with his public school contemporaries, but he’s dissatisfied with all that ‘Hooray Henry’ stuff.
Instead, along with Jack and the boys, he’s aligned himself with Ben’s website and the kind of reactionary politics that might have his forebears turning in their graves.
Aubrey (Jyuddah Jaymes)
Aubrey is an American international student and tech genius who’s barely been to a lecture all term, but could probably work at Google if he wanted.
Aubrey is gay and casually promiscuous. He’s loyal to Jack and the boys and at first a little spiky with Holly’s attempts to step into their world. As things darken however, Aubrey will find that his love of provocation is not enough to keep him on side with the increasingly right-wing nature of Ben’s website.
Rayna (Imogen King)
Rayna is a young, keen student activist, who lives with Holly, Louise and Fraser and is running the campus group Women Rise.
She’s young and beautiful and sexual, but also harbours a desire to be the focus of things and takes an unhealthy interest in Holly and the events of previous academic year. She sees Holly as a big sister figure but Holly couldn’t be less interested, finding Rayna’s puppyishness exhausting.
Fraser (Stuart Campbell)
Fraser is a white knight figure, a guy who has aligned himself to feminist group Women Rise in an attempt to do something good that the world can see.
Living with Holly, Louise and Rayna he’s eager and enthusiastic about the cause - but mostly he’s a bit in love with Rayna.
Agnes (Madeleine Worrall)
Agnes Reid is a fiercely ambitious MSP about to launch a new left-wing party with her as its figurehead. She’s got the backing of large parts of Edinburgh’s liberal elite (including the university administration) and she’s very keen to show willing to the younger generation in the hopes of winning their support in the election.
Agnes’ image is down to earth, say it as it is, single mother, self-made woman.
Ben (Richard Gadd)
Before he found himself on the wrong side of the university administration, Ben Howard was a computer science lecturer at the top of his game, one building a cult following around him.
The boys' clique has stayed loyal to him, Barney even funding Ben's new media enterprise - a news & entertainment company with a digital media website and a leaning to the alt-right which is becoming more pronounced...
