ITV has added more heavyweight talent to its upcoming lunar thriller ‘First Woman’, with Jennifer Ehle (Contagion, Zero Dark Thirty) and Alex Hassell (Rivals, Wasteman, His Dark Materials) joining the previously announced Andrea Riseborough (To Leslie, Possessor) and Ashley Walters (Top Boy, Bulletproof).
Created by Lydia Yeoman (Curfew) and George Oakes, from an original idea by Oakes, the six-part drama comes from Mammoth Screen, the company behind Code of Silence, Towards Zero and Betrayal. Filming is now underway in Belfast, with the series set to air on ITV1 and STV, and stream on ITVX and STV Player.
The series follows Claire Reith, played by Andrea Riseborough, a biologist taking part in a groundbreaking research project who becomes the first woman to set foot on the moon. When Claire disappears, suspicion falls on both her fellow astronauts and China’s rival lunar base. Back on Earth, her husband Ben, played by Ashley Walters, is left trying to uncover what really happened from hundreds of thousands of miles away.
Jennifer Ehle plays Helen Sadler, an investigator with the UK Space Flight Authority who is tasked with finding out what happened to Claire. Sceptical that Claire left the Lunar Module of her own free will, Helen’s enquiry begins to expose the secrets hidden within Mission Control.
Alex Hassell stars as Christopher Scott, the UK Prime Minister. Polished, pragmatic and disciplined, Christopher has built his centrist political identity around the idea that Britain must compete on the global stage. But as the crisis deepens, his position becomes increasingly fragile, raising the question of how far he will go in pursuit of personal ambition.
With the action switching between Mission Control in the UK and the lunar surface, ‘First Woman’ is being billed as a race against time, as the remaining astronauts come under increasing pressure and Ben clings to the hope that he and Claire can still be reunited. At the heart of the series sits a more personal mystery too: how well can two people really know each other?
The drama is co-produced by Mammoth Screen, Alcon Television Group and ZDF Germany, with Alcon and ITV Studios co-financing the series. The scripts come from lead writer Lydia Yeoman, George Oakes and Ben Schiffer, with Emmy and BAFTA-winning Philip Martin (Scoop, The Crown, Mo) directing. Julia Stannard (The Bombing of Pan Am 103, Trigger Point, War and Peace) produces.
Behind the camera, the series is executive produced by Mammoth Screen founder and Chief Creative Officer Damien Timmer, alongside James Gandhi, Philip Martin, George Oakes and Lydia Yeoman. Mammoth Screen’s Creative Director Rebecca Keane has overseen development, while ITV’s Director of Drama, Polly Hill, is overseeing the production from the broadcaster’s side.
The production is making use of Studio Ulster, the largest and most advanced virtual production studio in the UK, where the lunar landscape and moonbase have been created. UNIT VFX is working with Mammoth Screen and Alcon on the visual effects, while POLI PRODUCTIONS creative Rob Carlisle is collaborating with Philip Martin and Production Designer Gillian Devenney to create the lunar vistas.
‘First Woman’ does not yet have a premiere date but will air on ITV1 and STV, and stream on ITVX and STV Player in the UK. If you want to keep track of this or any other shows, you can add them via our Never Miss system, and you’ll be notified when it gets a UK premiere date. Visit Never Miss.
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