What is BBC's Thirteen?

BBC America's five-part series Thirteen is about a girl taken as a child and returning to her family 13 years later. Does it sound familiar? Of course, if you have been watching television. For example, ABC premiered The Family in March about an abducted boy who returns home. I should add it has already been canceled.

And need I mention the many other series about abducted children, returning children, and even ghostly children who disappear for years yet return at the same age?

So tonight's premiere of Thirteen is not all that new.  So is it worth a peek? Take a look at this trailer and decide for yourself.

Here is more about the story from BBC:

The BBC AMERICA co-production follows Ivy Moxam (Jodie Comer, Doctor Foster) on the day she escapes from the cellar that has been her prison for the last 13 years. It’s the day she’ll return to her home, to her family, to her life – but that day is only the beginning…The Moxam family had given up all hope when suddenly their loved one was thrust back into their lives – now the family struggles to piece back together the version of their lives that existed before Ivy disappeared. Mother Christina (Natasha Little, The Night Manager) insists husband Angus (Stuart Graham, The Fall) leave his girlfriend and return to the family home – never to breathe a word to Ivy of their separation, his breakdown, and all that has passed. Their other daughter, Emma (Katherine Rose Morley, Last Tango in Halifax), isn’t even consulted about this and feels disgusted by it. Once again the focus shifts from her, and her imminent wedding to Craig Watts (Joe Layton, Tatau), to her sister.

For Ivy, even after escaping her kidnapper and returning to her family, she still can’t seem to find peace or a sense of safety; the police inform her that her captor evaded arrest and is on the run. Assigned to the case and tasked with protecting Ivy are Detective Inspector (DI) Elliott Carne (Richard Rankin, The Crimson Field) and Detective Sergeant (DS) Lisa Merchant (Valene Kane, The Fall). The duo is sharp-tongued and shares a close relationship that occasionally crosses over the line of friendship, which DS Merchant enjoys far more than DI Carne. Their relationship is tested as DI Carne becomes consumed with protecting Ivy.

Ivy is the only one who knows her kidnapper, who understands him and who can help DI Carne and DS Merchant snare him. As leads run cold, the police begin to suspect Ivy isn’t telling them the whole truth. As she fights to retain her sanity, the doubts about her begin to form – the anomalies of her statement, the errors, and her outright lies. What happened in that cellar? Where is her kidnapper? Can Ivy really be trusted? Everyone wants to untangle the mystery that is Ivy Moxam, but where narrators are unreliable, truths are withheld, and when everyone has an agenda, it is no easy task.

As you can see, this may not be a straight forward narrative. Yet that keeps it interesting given the common theme.

I'm not sure what to make if a culture that needs such shows as it obsesses over and warps its children. How about a show where parents are taken, trained to be better adults and disciplinarians, and then returned to their kids while no time has actually passed? I would pay to see that series.