Forever Home comes to an end as Line of Duty star Daniel Mays leads new Channel 5 drama
Channel 5 is preparing to swap one drama for another, with Daniel Mays set to take over the Friday night slot after the conclusion of Forever Home.
The Graham Norton adaptation reaches its final episode on Wednesday, September 23, after all six instalments have aired across two weeks. From Friday, September 25, viewers can turn to the second season of Play for Today, with Mays leading the cast of the opening one-off drama, Wild.
Forever Home reaches its finale
Forever Home has only been on screen for a short time, but Channel 5 is already bringing the six-part drama to a close.
Based on Graham Norton’s bestselling 2023 novel of the same name, the series follows a story of family, marriage and secrets surrounding a home with a disturbing past. The television adaptation stars Amy Nuttall, Douglas Henshall, Denise Welch, Lewis Cope, Jenny Walser and Kevin Whately.
The full six-episode run has been broadcast over two weeks, beginning on Monday, September 14. The final instalment is scheduled for 9pm on Wednesday, September 23.
The drama has attracted attention from viewers familiar with Norton’s novel, with the original article noting that some fans had described the book as one they “couldn’t put down”.
Forever Home was filmed in Northumberland and is a six-part thriller adapted from Norton’s novel.
Daniel Mays leads Play for Today’s return
With Forever Home ending, Channel 5 is moving straight into another drama offering.
The broadcaster’s second season of Play for Today begins on Friday, September 25 at 9pm, returning the anthology format with a fresh collection of standalone films. The series was revived by Channel 5 after its earlier run on the BBC in the 1970s. Following the first new season, the broadcaster has continued the format with six new one-off dramas.
The first film is Wild, starring Daniel Mays, Joel Fry and Amit Shah.
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Mays, known for Line of Duty, plays Lou, while Joel Fry takes the role of Alistair and Amit Shah plays Dev. The trio are old friends who have kept up an annual wild camping tradition in the Scottish Highlands.
Their latest trip, however, quickly takes a darker turn.
What begins with jokes, nostalgia and amateur vlogging develops into a struggle for survival after the friends become lost and their food begins to run short. As pressure builds, old tensions emerge and their friendship is put under serious strain.
The film has been written by Lewis Wren and directed by BRICK. Channel 5 describes it as a survival dramedy exploring the boundary between adventure and recklessness, alongside issues surrounding masculinity and men’s mental health.
Daniel Mays on the freedom of a one-off drama
Mays has spoken about what attracted him to Wild and to the Play for Today format.
The actor said the standalone nature of the story gave him an opportunity to fully commit to a character and tell a complete story within a single drama. He also highlighted the creative freedom that comes with working on a project led by a first-time writer and director.
Mays compared the experience to working on Inside No. 9, pointing to the anthology’s tradition of taking risks with individual stories rather than relying on a continuing format.
He also suggested that he would be interested in returning to the characters if the story were ever developed further, describing Lou, Dev and Alistair as a particularly strong trio.
What happens in Wild?
The story centres on Lou, Dev and Alistair’s annual camping trip in the Scottish Highlands.
At first, their friendship appears familiar and comfortable. The trip is filled with banter and the sort of routine that comes from years of knowing one another. But once they lose their way and supplies become limited, the balance between the three men begins to change.
The pressure exposes disagreements and secrets, turning what was supposed to be a familiar outdoor tradition into an increasingly difficult test of their friendship.
The episode runs for around an hour and is scheduled for 9pm on Friday, September 25 on Channel 5.
Play for Today will continue beyond Wild with five further standalone dramas during its second season. The announced cast includes Archie Panjabi and Paul Kaye in The Quiet Hour, while Phyllis Logan, Max Harwood, Kathryn Drysdale, Kacey Ainsworth and Angus Imrie are among the stars of Village Idiot.
Watch Wild on Channel 5
Play for Today: Wild
Channel 5
Friday, September 25, 2026
9pm