The BBC has unveiled a first look at Hayley Squires (‘The Night Manager’, ‘I, Daniel Blake’) and Bel Powley (‘A Small Light’, ‘The Diary of a Teenage Girl’) in ‘Shy & Lola‘, a six-part thriller that brings murder, unlikely friendship and a spot of criminal ambition to a coastal town in the North of England.
Squires plays Shy, a cleaner scraping by while dreaming of a fresh start in Portugal. Powley plays Lola, a former model turned grifter who arrives in town with trouble at her heels. The two women might have little in common, but a murder leaves them entangled with the local criminal underworld and forces them to work together.
They begin as novices who are easy for the town’s criminals to exploit. That arrangement may not last: Shy and Lola discover they have a talent for crime and start building an operation capable of challenging the local bad guys. Their earnings could buy them the escape they want, although taking over the town might prove rather tempting.
The first images offer a glimpse of both sides of the story. Shy and Lola are seen sitting together in an old-fashioned bedroom, while another shot catches them in cleaning uniforms, pushing a trolley and looking back over their shoulders. Shy is also pictured outside a caravan at sunset, with Lola shown in a crowded room bathed in red light.
Amber Grappy (Image: Dujonna), Matthew McNulty (Image: Michael Shelford), Elizabeth Berrington (Image: Faye Thomas), Edward Bluemel (Image: Danny Kasirye), Jordan Bolger (Image: YellowBelly), Thomas Turgoose (Image: Nick Thompson), Joseph Ayre (Image: Faye Thomas) and Melanie-Joyce Bermudez (Image: Harry Livingstone)
The newly revealed cast includes Amber Grappy (‘One Day’, ‘The Baby’), Matthew McNulty (‘Deadwater Fell’, ‘Domina’), Elizabeth Berrington (‘Tip Toe’, ‘Frauds’) and Edward Bluemel (‘My Lady Jane’). Jordan Bolger (‘This Town’), Thomas Turgoose (‘Mickey 17’), Joseph Ayre (‘Hijack’) and screen newcomer Melanie-Joyce Bermudez also join the series.
Award-winning screenwriter and novelist Amanda Coe (‘Apple Tree Yard’, ‘The Trial of Christine Keeler’) writes the series, with additional episodes by Emilie Robson and Alys Metcalf. Sam Donovan (‘Severance’, ‘Down Cemetery Road’) is the lead director, while Emily Atef directs the second block.
Clerkenwell Films, whose previous productions include ‘Baby Reindeer’ and ‘The End of the F**ing World’*, produces the drama in association with ZDFneo. The series is based on the French television drama ‘Cheyenne and Lola’, written by Virginie Brac.
‘Shy & Lola‘ premieres in 2027 on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
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