What Is the Shocking Family Secret on 'The Trouble With Maggie Cole?'

In the series The Trouble With Maggie Cole, the small coastal village of Thurlbury is turned upside down when resident Maggie Cole (Dawn French) is interviewed by a radio journalist about the fellow locals. The town's gossip queen knows a bit of information about everyone and spills details on their personal lives to the interviewer. 

Following the radio interview, the locals are very upset about the embellished stories being broadcasted in the tight-knit community. 

In Episode 4 of the series, which aired on Nov. 8, Maggie had the tables turned on her when information about her son was released during a town meeting. Keep reading to find out more about the Cole family secret.

[Warning: Spoilers ahead]

During a town meeting, a bombshell story broke about Maggie's son Jamie (Phil Dunster). Jill (Julie Hesmondhalgh) attempted to get everyone's attention after the locals got a notification on their phones. The article referenced Maggie's son Jamie's violent past.

When Maggie and her husband Peter (Mark Heap) arrived, she immediately saw the news and looked to her husband to support her claim that the story was simply false. However, Peter suggested that the couple leave immediately. 

So, what is the scandalous family secret? 

Jamie has been haunted and overwhelmed by the guilt he has felt from the troubling secret in his past. 

In the U.K. comedy-drama, Peter eventually reveals that when Jamie was a young boy, he punched someone during boxing training that put the other person in a coma. However, Peter is adamant that it was not his son's fault as the other boy that got hit had an undiagnosed blood clot, which he eventually recovered from two weeks later. 

If you're looking to visit the small coastal town of Thurlbury, unfortunately, it does not exist. But, you can head to the villages where some of the series was filmed. 

According to Radio Times, The Trouble With Maggie Cole was filmed in South Devon and Cornwall. If you wish to visit the the "town," head to the village of Noss Mayo, which is reportedly one of the filming locations.

Actress Dawn French currently lives in Cornwall and opened up about some of the filming locations. “We’ve filmed on beaches that I went on as a kid like Mothecombe,” she told RadioTimes. “Launceston Castle is somewhere I also spent time as a kid. We did film in a lot of places that are my manor."

She continued, "Of all the cast I am the one who does know this area a bit. But there are still little bits in Cargreen where I had never been down a particular road. There was a whole little village there that I had never seen. So that was exciting.”

The Trouble With Maggie Cole airs Sundays at 8 p.m. on PBS.