Ovation Will Air the US Premiere of THE SCAPEGOAT, 1/22

It's been said that everyone has a doppelgänger out there somewhere, so imagine if you found yours and you could step right into his life without anyone knowing. On January 22, Ovation will invite viewers into the strange and provocative world of John Standing, a man who did just that . . . with fatal consequences.

Ovation, the only network devoted to artists and every kind of artistic expression, will air the U.S. premiere of THE SCAPEGOAT, a riveting two-hour film starring Matthew Rhys (The Americans, Brothers & Sisters) on Tuesday, January 22, 2013 at 8:00 pm ET.

Based on the novel by Daphne Du Maurier, THE SCAPEGOAT also stars Alice Orr-Ewing, AnDrew Scott (Sherlock), Jodhi May (Emma), Sylvie Testud (La Vie en Rose), Sheridan Smith (Hysteria) and Dame Eileen Atkins (Cranford, Cold Mountain). Set in 1952 as Great Britain prepares for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth, we meet "John Standing" (played by Rhys) who teaches Greek in a shabby prep school until he is unceremoniously dismissed. Deciding to use his time to embark on an adventure, he heads out by train to explore the continent. On a stop-over, he meets his mirror image in a bar, and although unnerved , he spends a night getting to know "Johnny," a man of privilege who longs to escape his responsibilities.

The two men wind up staying at the same hotel, but in the morning Johnny is nowhere to be found and John literally steps into his double's shoes. Suddenly, he finds himself responsible for a young wife, two mistresses, a morphine abusing mother, a precocious daughter, a crumbling stately home and a nearly bankrupt business. Despite his initial efforts to escape, he soon finds himself irresistibly drawn into Johnny's life only to find that the charade has to eventually come to a crashing end.

THE SCAPEGOAT, written and directed by Charles Sturridge (Handful of Dust, Shackleton, Brideshead Revisited, Gulliver's Travels), was produced by Island Pictures. The producers are Sarah Beardsall and Dominic Minghella (Doc Martin, Robin Hood).