Sheridan Smith & Céline Buckens To Star In Paramount+ UK Adaptation Of Lucy Clarke Novel ‘The Castaways’
EXCLUSIVE: Sheridan Smith and Céline Buckens have been cast as sisters in The Castaways, a Paramount+ drama series based on Lucy Clarke’s novel.
Smith will play Lori and Buckens is her sibling Erin in the thriller, which marks Clarke’s second series adaptation for Paramount+’s UK service.
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After they have a huge flight, Lori boards a plane to Fiji, while Erin does not. The flight never arrives at its tropical destination and months later no wreckage has been located. Erin suddenly hears Lori’s credit card has been used on a remote Fijian island and she later recognizes the pilot on CCTV. She boards a plane to Fiji to track down the truth.
The show jumps between the perspectives of the two sisters, with Erin undertaking an investigation in the modern day and Lori struggling to survive after surviving a crash on a remote island. The truth about what happened to the plane and its passengers is slowly revealed, with someone willing to kill to keep it secret.
The order marks what could be the first streamer series unveiled since the writers’ strike began today. British writers have been issued WGGB guidance not to accept work on U.S. studio shows during the industrial action but there is nothing stopping streamers ordering local shows outside the States, with contracts outside WGA jurisdiction.
UK producer Clapperboard Studios and Blackbox Multimedia are attached to The Castaways, with filming kicking off on location in Greece and Fiji next month. Mike Benson is executive producer for Clapperboard, which has regularly made dramas for Paramount+ and its UK network cousin Channel 5, whilst Giuliano Papadia and Chiara Cardoso are exec producers for Blackbox.
Ben Harris (Young Wallander, Devils) is also an executive producer. The exec, who was showrunner on CBS and TF1 drama Ransom, is also lead writer, sharing responsibilities with Polly Buckle and Jesse O’Mahoney. Andy Tohill and Ryan Tohill (Dagliesh, The Dig) are directors, with Myf Hopkins serving as the producer.
Sebastian Cardwell, Deputy Chief Content Officer for the UK at Paramount ordered the series, which BBC Studios will distribute globally.
Stage and screen actress Smith was Emmy-nominated and BAFTA-winning for her role in ITV and Seven Network drama Mrs Biggs and BAFTA-nominated for The C Word and Cilla (she was also Emmy-nominated for the latter). Other key TV roles include ITV’s Cleaning Up and Channel 5’s The Teacher. She has appeared in Dustin Hoffman feature Quartet and most recently The Railway Children Return. On stage, she is currently starring as Shirley Valentine in Willy Russell’s one-woman West End show.
Belgian-British actress, writer and director Buckens is know for BBC mini-series Showtrial, which landed her nominations at the BAFTAs and International Emmys last year. She’s also appeared in Steven Spielberg’s War Horse, Netflix series Free Rein and Warrior and, most recently, The Ex-Wife for Paramount+, which Clapperboard, Blackbox and Night Train Media made.
Clarke, who wrote the novel The Castaways is based on, has another adaptation launching on Paramount+ in the UK this month. No Escape will debut on May 18 in the UK, joining a slate of launched or upcoming originals, including The Ex-Wife, A Gentleman in Moscow and Sexy Beast.
Clarke said The Castaways “promises to be an incredible adaptation; the scriptwriting is electric, and Sheridan and Céline are perfectly cast as Lori and Erin.”
The show is one of 150 international originals Paramount+ plans to launch by 2025.
“In Ben Harris we have one of the most empathetic and thrilling writers and both he and the writing team have done a tremendous job adapting Lucy’s gripping novel,” said Clapperboard CEO Benson. “We’re determined to deliver a fantastic series for our friends and partners at Paramount+ and BBC Studios.”
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