The BBC has confirmed an all-star cast for its latest drama from Hugo Blick.
Deadline brought you news that Bill Nighy was in talks for Clifftops back in February and the BBC has confirmed the show, now titled California Avenue, will star Nighy, Helena Bonham Carter, Tom Burke and Erin Doherty, the latter of whom is fresh off the back of the runaway success of Netflix’s Adolescence.
California Avenue is set in a secluded canal-side caravan park deep in the luscious English countryside, where its peace is irrevocably disrupted by the arrival of Lela (Doherty) and her 11-year-old child, both on the run, looking for refuge in this hidden world. It is here that a fractured family will come together, ghosts and demons will firmly be put to rest and an unexpected love is forged. Nighy and Bonham Carter star as Jerry and Eddie, Lela’s parents, while Burke is showman outcast, Cooper.
The series is the latest collaboration between Blick, Drama Republic, Eight Rooks and the BBC following The English, The Honourable Woman and Black Earth Rising.
Blick said: “Over the past few decades, whether through comedy, political dramas or even a western, I’ve looked to explore what television fiction can be. California Avenue is an exploration of the people who inspired me to want to do this.”
Lindsay Salt, Director of BBC Drama, added: “Hugo Blick has given us some of the finest television of the past three decades and it’s an honour to join forces with him alongside Bill, Helena, Erin, Tom and Drama Republic to take BBC viewers on the journey of a lifetime to 1970s California Avenue.”
California Avenue (6×60) is produced by Colin Wratten (The English, Lockerbie: A Search for Truth), and the executive producers are Blick for Eight Rooks, Greg Brenman for Drama Republic, Nighy, Bonham Carter, and Lucy Richer for the BBC. The series is produced by Drama Republic. Mediawan Rights and Entourage Media will distribute the series internationally.
