It was announced last year that Top Boy and The Day of the Jackal writer Ronan Bennett would be tackling Channel 4’s six-part drama, Army of Shadows. Inspired by Jean Pierre Melville’s Franco-Italian 1969 film and Joseph Kessel’s seminal book of the same name, the six-parter was described as a “bold new story… of how resistance takes shape in an occupied Great Britain.”
Well now, a completely stacked cast has now been unveiled for Army of Shadows as filming gets underway across Manchester, Liverpool, London and Paris.
Leading the cast are BAFTA-winning Paddy Considine (House of The Dragon), Academy Award nominated Barbie and Ugly Betty star America Ferrera, Alex Hassell (Rivals) and Kit Harington (Industry).
As of now, it hasn’t been confirmed who will star as which character but it’s set to dig into the lives of ordinary people who are having to make extraordinary decisions. The original film and book dramatised the emergence of the French Resistance to the Nazi Occupation of France during World War II, but Channel 4 has said that this new series will unfold in an occupied Great Britain. Nevertheless, it’s bound to be a moving watch. As well as being penned by Bennett, Lisa Gunning (Black Doves) will be directing all six episodes.
The synopsis for Army of Shadows reads: “Britain looks almost normal, but the flags are different, the news is careful, and nobody says certain things out loud anymore. But everyone can feel it. Somewhere beneath the surface of ordinary life something has gone terribly, quietly wrong.
“Out of the shadows emerges a former soldier known only as Berry, who starts building a secret resistance network. He knows one thing above all else: don’t act before you’re ready. An unlikely group starts to coalesce around him – people who’ve decided they can’t look away any longer: a soldier, a student, a radiographer, a journalist. Ordinary people, with ordinary lives, making an extraordinary and irreversible choice.”
“Against them: a state with unlimited reach, a ruthless minister who’ll do whatever it takes to maintain ‘order’, and an American intelligence operative called Jessie, who is very, very good at her job. Army of Shadows is a tense, propulsive thriller about what resistance actually costs. If your country were occupied, what would you do?”
From Channel 4’s descriptions, we can assume that Considine will be taking on the leading role as Berry and that Ferrera will star as American intelligence operative Jessie. As for everyone else, we’ll just have to wait and see.
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Gwawr Lloyd, interim head of drama at Channel 4, says: “Ronan Bennett has created a gripping, provocative and action-packed drama that feels both epic in scale and strikingly relevant. Army of Shadows asks powerful questions about freedom, resistance and the choices people make when democracy is under threat.
“With a stellar cast lined up under the direction of Lisa Gunning, this is exactly the kind of thought-provoking and high stakes drama that Channel 4 looks to bring to our viewers. We’re delighted to partner with STUDIOCANAL and Two Cities Television on what promises to be an unmissable event series.”
Similarly, Anna Marsh, CEO of STUDIOCANAL and Chief Content Officer of CANAL+, says: “Inspired by Jean-Pierre Melville’s exceptional 1969 film from our catalogue, and Joseph Kessel’s formative book, we are incredibly proud to have developed this series from inception, attaching an extraordinary cast and creative team to bring Army of Shadows into production today.
“Ronan Bennett’s work is thrilling, climactic and important. And we are delighted to now welcome Lisa Gunning who directs all 6 episodes with irrepressible vision and command. Army of Shadows is a series that has no limitations across audience, geographies or relevance and in partnership with Two Cities Television and Channel 4 it is a privilege for the teams at CANAL+ and STUDIOCANAL to bring such a visceral piece of television to audiences around the world.”
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Army of Shadows will be coming to Channel 4.
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