The Bad Seed is a five-part New Zealand television crime drama series, based on the best selling novels The Night Book and Soon by Charlotte Grimshaw, that broadcast across five consecutive nights on TVNZ 1 from 14 April 2019. Starring Matt Minto and Dean O'Gorman in the leading roles, The Bad Seed follows the Lampton family, whose quiet suburban lifestyle is rocked by the murder of one of their neighbours, wealthy businessman's wife Julia Stevens. Also featured amongst the cast are Madeleine Sami, Jodie Hillock, Xavier Horan and Chelsie Preston Crayford. Casting for the series was announced in April 2018, with filming commencing shortly after. The series' screenplay was co-written by Sarah-Kate Lynch, Joss King and Michael Beran, with Helena Brooks, Caroline Bell-Booth and Mike Smith serving as directors. Outside of New Zealand, the series premiered in the United Kingdom on Alibi on 14 May 2019, with episodes airing weekly at 9:00pm on Tuesdays. Plot From outside the gates of their lush Remuera home, it would be easy to assume that the Lampton family have it all. There's Simon (Matt Minto), a respected obstetrician; Karen (Jodie Hillock), his beautiful, philanthropic wife; and Elke (Madeleine McCarthy) and Claire (Zoe Jansson Bush), their two bright teenage daughters. The home also holds enough room for Simon's less well-to-do older brother Ford (Dean O'Gorman) to stay with the family until he gets back on his feet. The Lamptons want for nothing, yet all is not as it seems in this upmarket suburb and, when neighbour Julia Stevens (Jackie Geurts) – a patient of Simon's - is found murdered in her own home, it sends shock waves through the community. Worse still, as Detective Marie Da Silva (Madeleine Sami) gets her investigation underway, every clue seems to lead her back to the Lamptons – and in particular to Simon, who finds he may have been taking his privileged life for granted. What is Simon hiding? How have he and Ford been affected by their traumatic childhoods? And why has the enigmatic Roza Hallwright (Chelsie Preston Crayford), wife of soon-to-be next Prime Minister David Hallwright (Xavier Horan), taken such an interest in their troubled little family? As family secrets unravel and the Lampton's world begins to crumble, Detective DeSilva uncovers a web of lies spun by someone the Lamptons would never suspect. Cast Matt Minto as Simon Lampton Dean O'Gorman as Ford Lampton Jodie Hillock as