An upcoming Australian drama miniseries starring Belfast actor Ciaran Hinds will be coming to the BBC, the broadcaster has announced.
The 71-year-old actor from the north of the city is set to star in The Narrow Road to the Deep North – an adaptation of the novel by Richard Flanagan.
The series is a five-part saga charting the life of Dorrigo Evans, played by Jacob Elordi – known for his role in Saltburn – as a young man, with Hinds as the older Dorrigo.
The show goes through his passionate love affair with Amy Mulvaney, played by Odessa Young (Manodrome, The Stand), his time held captive in a WW2 POW camp, and his later years spent as a revered surgeon and reluctant war hero.
Sue Deeks, Head of BBC programme acquisition, said: “The Narrow Road to the Deep North is a complex, beautiful, and heart-wrenching series which sensitively interweaves several stages in the life of surgeon Dorrigo Evans, from the passion of first love, to the unflinching depiction of life as a prisoner of war in occupied Burma. We are so very pleased to bring this truly exceptional adaptation to BBC viewers.
“The Narrow Road to the Deep North is an epic tale of the sustaining power of love under the harshest of circumstances.
“Curio is honoured to help bring to this spectacular story to life with creators Shaun Grant and Justin Kurzel, novelist Richard Flanagan and our brilliant cast and crew.
“We can’t wait for audiences to see it.” said Curio Pictures’ Jo Porter and Rachel Gardner, who both serve as executive producers.”
It’s the latest series Hinds has featured in, after his role in the second series of Lord Of The Things: The Rings of Power, playing the Dark Wizard.
Last month HInds’ daughter opened up about working in film and television with her Northern Irish father.
Aoife Hinds – who has starred in the likes of Derry Girls, Normal People and now the latest HBO epic Dune: Prophecy – told The Times about that first moment the pair acted together, with the actress saying it was very “fulfilling”.
“We were both nervous about it. We were going from father and daughter to colleagues, which meant we saw how the other carried themselves on set, and how we were as actors,” she explained.
“Of course, I’m still his child, but it’s so fulfilling to bring things to the relationship now I’m an adult. I’ve been learning from him for so long; suddenly it felt like he was also learning from me.”
The release date for the show on the BBC iPlayer and BBC One has not yet been revealed.
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News Catch Up: Monday 2nd December