THE SIEGE: DANNY DYER AND DAVID MORRISEY LEAD CAST OF CHANNEL 4 DRAMA BASSED ON BEN MACINTYRE BOOK

Adapted from Ben Macintyre’s best-selling book by three-time Emmy and WGA award-winning Will Smith (Slow Horses, Veep), Channel 4 has commissioned The Siege, starring Danny Dyer (Rivals, Mr Big Stuff), David Morrissey (Sherwood, Daddy Issues) and Motaz Malhees (The Voice of Hind Rajab, 200 Metres). 

The Siege, directed by BAFTA winning Lewis Arnold (Time, Des) and executive produced by BAFTA winning Patrick Spence (Mr Bates vs The Post Office, A Spy Among Friends), for AC Chapter One, is a heart-in-mouth story involving an extraordinary cast of characters from different walks of life, thrown together by a seemingly insolvable conflict.

30th April 1980. Six armed Arab Iranian separatists burst into the Iranian embassy in London, taking hostage the 26 people inside, demanding autonomy for their people. Over the next six days, the gunmen, the hostages and the police struggled with each other for control of the situation while the soldiers of the SAS mounted plans for a daring mission to break the siege that would be witnessed by the watching world.

Coupling thriller tension with poignancy, insight and humour, this six-part limited series brings audiences the definitive account of a pivotal moment in history, when Britain and the world held its breath.

Also joining the ensemble cast are Leo Bill (Foundation & Taboo), Kevin Doyle (Happy Valley, Downton Abbey) Alex Jennings (The Crown, A Very English Scandal), Alexej Manvelov (Dept Q, Jack Ryan), Sara Shirpey (Taelgia, Top Dog), Omid Djalili (His Dark Materials, The Mummy), Nicola Stephenson (Safe House, Maternal), Stephen Campbell Moore (Masters Of The Air, The Gold).

Plus Sean Pertwee (Gotham, Dog Soldiers), Enzo Cilenti (Black Mirror, The Beekeeper), Sam Troughton (Black Doves, Lockerbie: A Search for The Truth), Iddo Goldberg (Peaky Blinders, Snow Piercer),  Armin Karima (Prisoner 951, Sex Education), Asim Chaudhry (People Just Do Nothing, Black Mirror), Moe Bar-El (Alien: Earth, Tehran), Kavé Niku (Prisoner 951, Tehran).

And Nina Mahdavi (Cul-de-sac, Ambivalence), Catayoune Ahmadi (Tehran, Reading Lolita in Tehran), Lorne MacFadyen (Starstruck, On The Sea) and Aneurin Barnard (Dunkirk, Time), Mark Bonnar (Guilt, Dept Q) and Gwilym Lee (Bohemian Rhapsody, SAS: Rogue Heroes).

Ian Katz, Chief Content Officer, Channel 4 said: “The Iranian embassy siege and the daring raid which ended it was an iconic moment that forged the ferocious reputation of the modern SAS. The show is a heart-stopping, emotional thriller that reveals the little-known motivations of the hapless hostage-takers and the very human reality of what went on inside the embassy as the world looked on and Britain's most lethal soldiers practiced their high stakes assault...

"It will change the way people understand the siege and reveal how close the famous SAS operation came to disaster. We're thrilled to be working with Will Smith, Ben Macintyre, Lewis Arnold, Patrick Spence and the remarkable cast. This major commission underlines Channel 4's commitment to dialling up exceptional drama in its slate of original British programming.”

Alexandre Piel, Deputy Head of Drama, ARTE France said: “The Siege is our first coproduction with UK, and we are truly honoured to be associated with Channel 4 on this fantastic project. Will Smith is a brilliant author; his adaptation of Ben Macintyre's novel masterfully blends a gripping thriller with the emotional depth of this tragic event.

He made it an intense, moving, and funny story all at once. It has been wonderful to stand at Patrick Spence’s side in his adventure. It’s a unique opportunity, the one that allows you to witness the unfolding of a historical moment turning into disaster in front of the whole world. And we are also more than happy that this project enables us to have worked for the first time with the esteemed Channel 4 team.”

Commissioned for Channel 4 by Gwawr Lloyd, Interim Head of Drama and Gemma Boswell, Drama Commissioning Editor, the drama will be produced by AC Chapter One and co-produced with Universal International Studios, a division of Universal Studio Group, and ARTE France.  The executive producers are Will Smith, Patrick Spence and Kat Pugsley (Maternal, The A Word) alongside Lewis Arnold, and Ben Macintyre (SAS: Rogue Heroes, Operation Mincemeat). The director is Lewis Arnold and the producer is Richard Stokes (Broadchurch).

The Siege will be globally distributed by NBCUniversal Global TV Distribution.