Nobody does dread – creeping, building, bone-chilling dread – quite like M Night Shyamalan.

Which is why fans of the celebrated horror filmmaker behind such cult classics as The Sixth Sense, Signs and The Village are rejoicing at the news of his latest project. It’s called Servant. And it’s a television series debuting on AppleTV+ on 28 November that looks absolutely, positively terrifying.

Here’s the premise: Dorothy (Lauren Ambrose) and Sean Turner (Toby Kebbell) are a young couple in Philadelphia with what looks like the perfect life. They live in a beautiful house. They’ve just hired a bright, sensitive nanny named Leanne (Nell Tiger Free) to take care of their infant son Jericho. But as the first trailer shows, Jericho isn’t actually alive. He’s a lifelike therapy doll given to the family to help them cope with the tragic death of their son. 

But when Leanne develops an eerie attachment to the doll, and starts behaving in a manner that nobody can explain, people start to question Leanne’s involvement with the Turner family. Who is this woman? And what is she doing in their house? 

What is the plot of Servant? 

Servant opens with the Turners still reeling from the loss of their son Jericho, who died when he was just 13 weeks old. His death hit Dorothy particularly hard, and now the family live with an eerily lifelike therapy doll and a nanny to take care of it.

But, over time, things start going awry in the Turner household. Balloons start popping. Creepy dolls appear. There’s a man (!) with a knife (!!!) who turns up at their doorstep. Baby monitors switch on – and begin registering the noise of a child. Leanne starts behaving in strange way.

“She’s gone, you can put the doll down now,” Sean tells Leanne at one point in the trailer.

“I’m fine as I am Mr Turner,” she responds, eyes blank, head tilted to the side. “I should take Jericho for his walk now.”  

Is there a trailer for Servant?

There is. You can watch it below. 

Who is in the cast of Servant?

Lauren Ambrose and Toby Kebbell star as the couple who lost their child and are still grieving. Ambrose you might know from her work in television – she has starred in Torchwood, Six Feet Under and the reboot of The X-Files. Kebbell, who originally hails from Yorkshire is best known for action movies like Kong: Skull Island and Warcraft. 

Before playing Leanne in Servant, Nell Tiger Free’s biggest credit was Game of Thrones, where she was a young Myrcella Baratheon. And then, of course, there’s the biggest name in the cast: Rupert Grint. 

Wait – did you say Rupert Grint?

We did. Rupert Grint – Harry Potter’s Ron Weasley himself – is starring in Servant. His character only appears in the trailer for a 10-second snippet of footage when he tells Sean that Leanne “knows” about the couple’s particular situation. But how much does he know? And why does he look so sinister about whatever it is that he knows?

“She’s cool with everything?” Sean asks Rupert’s character Julian.

“She knows the situation,” he responds, in a manner we can only describe as creepy. 

Will there be more seasons of Servant? 

Shyamalan has said that he has sketched out the full arc of the series and that he wants it to take place over the course of six seasons, six years and 60 episodes. (666? That can’t be a coincidence, especially considering it involves the master of horror himself.)

Apple has not confirmed that they have commissioned such a lengthy series, but if the horror show proves as popular for the platform as they are on other streaming networks like Netflix, we can’t imagine Apple will have any objections. 

When can I watch Servant?

Servant will stream on AppleTV+ from 28 November. 

Images: Apple