Callum Turner’s Early Drama Leaving Is Climbing Netflix’s TV Chart

Before Masters of the Air made Callum Turner a familiar face to a much wider audience, the actor appeared opposite the late Helen McCrory in a quietly intense ITV drama about an affair that threatens to upend two lives.

Now, more than a decade after its original broadcast, Leaving is climbing Netflix’s TV chart, giving the three-part 2012 drama a new audience.

Turner was just 22 when he made his television debut in the series, playing Aaron, a young university graduate whose life changes after he meets Julie, a married hotel manager played by McCrory. The series originally aired on ITV in September 2012 and consists of three episodes.

What is Leaving about?

Written by Tony Marchant and directed by Gaby Dellal, Leaving centres on the complicated relationship between 44-year-old Julie Ranmore and 24-year-old Aaron.

Julie is married with two children and works at a hotel in Cheshire, but her marriage has become unhappy and distant. Aaron, meanwhile, is struggling to find work after leaving university and remains unsure about where his life is heading.

The pair first meet at the hotel during the wedding of Aaron’s brother. Their initial connection develops further when Aaron takes a job at the same hotel, eventually leading to a secret relationship that puts both their personal lives at risk.

What begins as an unexpected attraction gradually becomes a much more complicated story about love, family, responsibility and the consequences of acting on an impulse.

The drama focuses less on sensationalism than on the emotional uncertainty surrounding the relationship, allowing the characters’ choices and their effects on those around them to drive the story.

Helen McCrory and Callum Turner lead the cast

McCrory takes the central role of Julie, while Turner plays Aaron.

They are joined by Sean Gallagher as Michael, Julie’s husband, with Deborah Findlay, Charity Wakefield, Bart Edwards, Amelia Young and Sandra Huggett among the supporting cast.

The series was also an important early television appearance for Turner. His performance as Aaron came before roles in projects including The Capture, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald and Masters of the Air. Rotten Tomatoes’ biography of Turner notes that he made his small-screen debut in 2012, appearing in Leaving and The Town.

A drama praised for its understated approach

When Leaving aired in 2012, its restrained treatment of the central romance drew attention.

The Guardian described the three-part series as a plausible and engaging love story, particularly noting its understated approach. A contemporary review from The Arts Desk similarly praised the writing and performances, calling the finished drama touching and thought-provoking despite the potentially clichéd premise.

The series has also continued to attract attention because of McCrory’s performance. A later review cited by Rotten Tomatoes described the role as one of the actress’s particularly sharp and complex screen performances, while also praising Tony Marchant’s dialogue.

McCrory, who died from breast cancer in 2021, remains one of the drama’s defining presences. Her performance as Julie gives the story much of its emotional weight, while Turner’s portrayal of Aaron captures a young man caught between uncertainty about his future and an increasingly complicated relationship.

All three episodes are now on Netflix

Leaving originally aired on ITV from September 10 to September 24, 2012, with one episode broadcast each week.

Netflix is now giving the series a new lease of life. The platform describes the story as one in which a woman risks her marriage and family after being drawn into a passionate affair with a younger man, with McCrory, Turner and Gallagher leading the cast.

All three episodes are available to stream on Netflix, making the series a relatively short watch for viewers interested in British relationship dramas, early Callum Turner performances or the work of Helen McCrory.

More than a decade after its ITV debut, Leaving is finding a fresh audience — and offering viewers the chance to see Turner in one of his earliest major television roles alongside McCrory.