Earlier this year, erstwhile Doctor Who showrunner Russell T. Davies rocked the Beeb with his Hugh Grant-starring adaptation, A Very English Scandal, and his next project, a BBC-HBO-Canal+ co-production, is shaping up to have similar star power.
Actor-writer Emma Thompson will play what looks to be the villain of the piece, Vivienne Rook, “an outspoken celebrity turned political figure whose controversial opinions divide the nation. She’s a new breed of politician, an entertainer, a rebel, a trickster, and her rise to power leads us into an unknown future.”
Joining her will be the equally brilliant Rory Kinnear (Penny Dreadful, Black Mirror, Count Arthur Strong, lots and lots of brainy plays), who’ll play Stephen Lyons, “a financial advisor and the family’s peacekeeper who is married to Celeste played by T’Nia Miller, (Obey, Marcella), an ambitious and opinionated accountant.”
Russell Tovey plays Stephen’s brother Daniel, alongside Jessica Hynes and Ruth Madeley as the Lyons sisters. Anne Reid will be Muriel, the family’s “imperial grandmother”.
Here’s the official synopsis:
As Britain is rocked by unstable political, economic and technological advances, we follow the Lyons family as their complex lives converge on one crucial night in 2019. Then, over the next 15 years, the twists and turns of everyday life are explored as we find out if this ordinary family could ever change the world.
Expect political comment, family drama and a gimlet-eyed vision of the near future, all from one of television’s greatest screenwriters. The six-episode drama will air next year.
More news as it arrives.