Helena Bonham Carter, Erin Doherty And Bill Nighy Star In BBC One’s New 70s Period Drama

Last year Erin Doherty became one of the breakout stars of Netflix’s massive hit Adolescence, winning an Emmy award for her performance as the child psychologist Briony Aniston. Naturally, then it was exciting when she was cast alongside both Helena Bonham Carter and Bill Nighy in a new BBC One series, titled California Avenue, as her next big project. A drama set in Britain in the 1970s, it’s set to arrive later this year- here’s all we know so far:

What is California Avenue about?

While the cast is the main draw — more on that later — much has still yet to be revealed about the plot and what to expect from the show. What we do know, however, is that unlike the very contemporary Adolescence, California Avenue is a period piece, set half a century ago in 70s Britain. The setting sounds very British, taking place in a “secluded canal-side caravan park deep in the luscious English countryside”, which is disrupted when our main character, Lela (played by Doherty), arrives alongside her young 11-year-old child. The two are both on the run (for reasons yet unexplained), and Lela is desperate to find refuge in somewhere isolated and away from whoever or whatever is pursuing her.

Who else is in the cast?

Others we’ll meet along the way include Eddie (Bonham Carter) and Jerry (Nighy), Lela’s parents. Furiosa: A Mad Max Story star Tom Burke meanwhile plays Cooper, a “showman outcast”. The BBC’s official synopsis continues that the show will see that “a fractured family will come together, ghosts and demons will firmly be put to rest, and an unexpected love forged.”

What else do we know?

The six-part series is being directed by acclaimed filmmaker Hugo Blick, whose previous work includes the Emily Blunt western miniseries The English. He said in an interview with Deadline that California Avenue is “a straight story about a family on the run from themselves and the past, who end up in a trailer park in 1975, and they have nothing.” It was filmed last year in Hertfordshire, and while it’s yet to receive a definitive release date, it’s set to arrive soon on both BBC One and on streaming via iPlayer. Watch this space for future updates.