The casting announcements continue to come flurrying in for ITV’s upcoming space thriller, First Woman – and boy, are we excited.
The new six-parter will see Andrea Riseborough take on the lead role as biologist Claire Reith, who is the first woman to set foot on the moon, and is embarking on a groundbreaking research project.
As per the synopsis: “Her disappearance throws suspicion on her fellow astronauts and China’s rival base. With hundreds of thousands of miles between them, can her husband Ben (Ashley Walters) uncover the truth behind his wife’s disappearance?”
The lead cast of Riseborough and Ashley Walters was previously announced with last week’s news also bringing confirmation that Rivals star Alex Hassell and Pride & Prejudice’s Jennifer Ehle were also joining the thriller.
Now, it’s been announced that there are plenty more cast additions and there are some very familiar faces. Jimmy Akingbola (The Tower) is joining the series alongside Fra Fee (Unchosen), Kathryn Gallagher (Woman of the Hour), Shazad Latif (Wuthering Heights), Christian Ochoa Lavernia (In the Grey) and Ben Miles (The Capture).
As for their roles, Akingbola plays astronaut Dr Henry Evans, who is in charge of the nuclear reactor that sustains life on the moon while Fee plays astronaut Dr Declan McAllister, described as having a “bullish demeanour” that puts him at loggerheads with Riseborough’s Claire.
Gallagher is set to play Lucy Miller, a former NASA astronaut who now works in Mission Control, Lavernia plays Gabriel Ross, commander of the moon mission and Shazad Latif stars as Inesh Vidhani, the billionaire who is behind the entire space programme.
As for The Crown’s Miles, he will star as mission director Peter Talbot who also happens to be a former astronaut now running Mission Control.
The series certainly sounds like an ambitious and exciting feat that seemingly blends sci-fi elements with a classic whodunnit mystery – consider us sold! The description for the series continues: “With the action switching between Mission Control in the UK and the lunar surface, this is a race against time like no other, with the remaining astronauts under increasing pressure and Ben hoping against hope that he and his wife can be reunited. But how well can two people really know each other?”
Also described as “cinematic in scale and ambition”, First Woman will be produced by Julia Stannard (The Bombing of Pan Am 103, Trigger Point) and directed by Philip Martin (Scoop, The Crown).
As of now, a release date hasn’t yet been announced but filming for the series has kicked off in Belfast so watch this space.
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First Woman is coming soon to ITV.
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