Teenager Matthew Hall is set to become a familiar face on the small screen, thanks to his roles in two television dramas.

Matthew, 17, of Cleckheaton, is appearing in ITV thriller Unforgiven, playing a boy living in a Yorkshire farmhouse with a tragic past.

The cast includes Suranne Jones, Peter Davison, Douglas Hodge, Jemma Redgrave, Will Mellor and Siobhan Finneran.

He said: “I play Rufus, the older son of a couple played by Peter and Siobhan. I learned a lot from working with such great, established actors.

“It’s a gripping drama – there are revelations coming up about the spooky goings-on in the house and the family’s involvement.”

He filmed Unforgiven, by West Yorkshire writer Sally Wainwright, last summer.

“The old farmhouse where my character lives is based on a house Sally was fascinated with in her childhood,” said Matthew.

The gritty three-part drama, also filmed in Halifax and Huddersfield, is about Ruth Slater, who has spent 15 years in prison for murdering two policemen.

Ruth struggles to put the past behind her, especially thoughts of the younger sister she’s not allowed to contact and her haunting memories of Upper Hanging Stones Farm, an old house isolated on bleak moorland.

Writer Sally Wainwright said: “The idea came overnight and took on its own momentum quickly. It’s quite a dark piece for me, but not without its lighter, warmer moments.”

Matthew, who won the Student of the Year award at Stage 84 last month, has also just filmed a storyline in Heartbeat, playing the son of a murder victim.

The former pupil of Whitcliffe Mount School, Cleckheaton, has also appeared in The Royal, filmed at St Luke’s Hospital, Bradford. He plans to pursue an acting career after finishing a musical theatre course at Leeds College of Music this summer.

Sally’s other dramas include Sparkhouse, a contemporary version of Wuthering Heights, At Home With The Braithwaties, partly filmed in Bradford; and The Amazing Mrs Pritchard, exploring the idea of moving Parliament to Bradford.