Schumacher made his television writing debut four years ago with The Responder, a five-part series starring Martin Freeman as a police officer on the edge of a breakdown. His new offering, The Cage, is ostensibly the tale of a casino robbery by two employees: Leanne, played by Sheridan Smith, and Matty, played by Michael Socha.
Leanne and Matty have both secretly been cooking the casino's books and stealing cash from the safe for months. Leanne is a widowed mother of two children. Her mother died 18 months ago, and she now takes care of her grandmother, played by Eileen O'Brien, who has dementia. Because their council home tenancy is tied to the grandmother, when she goes into a care home in two weeks, the family will be evicted.
Matty is the son of a recovering drug addict and is himself a recovering drug addict, still in the grip of a gambling addiction. He has a teenage daughter, Emily, played by Freya Jones, but is too ashamed of himself to see her often. Emily's mother is Trace, played by Mona Goodwin. Matty's gambling has put him deeply in debt, which is due to be collected by Paul, played by Louis Emerick. Paul gives Matty a choice: help out a local drug dealing gangster to work off his debt, or there is no choice at all.