Forever Home on Channel 5: Graham Norton's Novel Comes to TV
In short: Forever Home is a six-part Channel 5 drama based on Graham Norton's 2022 novel, with six episodes. Channel 5 aired them at 9pm on Monday to Wednesday across two weeks, from September 14 to 23, 2026, and all six are on My5. Amy Nuttall plays Carol, whose older partner Robert (Douglas Henshall) has early-onset dementia and an odd fear of their cellar, and what she finds there reopens the disappearance of his first wife. Reviews praise Henshall but say the comic touches undercut the darker material. Worth it if you like domestic mysteries with a slow reveal.
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- Episodes: six.
- When it aired: Channel 5 at 9pm, Monday to Wednesday over two weeks: September 14, 15 and 16, then 21, 22 and 23, 2026.
- Where to watch now: all six episodes are on My5, Channel 5's free streaming service.
- Based on: Graham Norton's 2022 novel, adapted by Clara Salaman.
- Setting: moved from the book's Ireland to Northumberland, in the north of England.
- Outside the UK: no international release announced yet.
What it's about
Carol Crottie lives with Robert Barrie, an older partner who has been diagnosed with early-onset dementia. As his condition worsens, he grows fiercely anxious about the cellar of their house without being able to say why. When Carol finally looks, what she finds ties Robert to the disappearance of his first wife twenty years earlier, and suggests other people in his family have known more than they let on. Because Robert can't be relied on to remember his own past, Carol, and the viewer, keep having to work out what is a buried secret and what is the illness.
The cast
- Amy Nuttall as Carol Crottie. She's best known as Ethel in Downton Abbey and from Emmerdale.
- Douglas Henshall as Robert Barrie, a sharp change from his years as detective Jimmy Perez in BBC's Shetland.
- Denise Welch (Coronation Street, Waterloo Road) as Carol's mother.
- Kevin Whately (Inspector Morse, Lewis) in a supporting role.
What critics said
Reviews have been mixed to positive, with the same split coming up again and again. Henshall gets the strongest notices for keeping Robert both sympathetic and unsettling, without letting the dementia explain everything. The mystery gets more gripping as it unravels. The main criticism is tone: playful music and comic beats keep breaking into scenes about grief and illness, so the drama rarely cuts as deep as it could. Dork gave it three stars, calling it "a thriller that can sustain interest without sustaining the same depth of feeling."
Graham Norton the novelist
Outside the UK, Norton is mostly known as a chat show host, but this is his fourth novel. The others are Holding (2016), which ITV adapted in 2022, A Keeper (2018) and Home Stretch (2020). Holding and Home Stretch both won awards at the An Post Irish Book Awards. All four follow the same pattern: a small community, an old secret, and sympathy for flawed people rather than shock.
Our verdict
Watch it for Henshall and for the mystery, which holds up across six episodes. Go in expecting a cosy-leaning Sunday-night style drama rather than a hard-edged thriller, and the tonal wobbles bother you less. If you liked ITV's Holding, this is the same kind of story with a darker centre.
Frequently asked questions
How many episodes is Forever Home? Six. Channel 5 aired them at 9pm on September 14, 15, 16, 21, 22 and 23, 2026, and all six are on My5.
Where can I watch Forever Home? On Channel 5 and its streaming service, My5, in the UK. No international release has been announced.
Is Forever Home based on a book? Yes, Graham Norton's 2022 novel of the same name. The series moves the story from Ireland to Northumberland.
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