WILD CHERRY: CASTING ANNOUNCED FOR NEW BBC ONE DRAMA FROM NICOLE LECKY

The BBC and Firebird Pictures (Wilderness, The Jetty, Outrageous) have today announced lead casting for Wild Cherry, Nicôle Lecky’s highly anticipated second drama for the BBC, following the success of the BAFTA-winning Mood.

The original new drama will be led by Eve Best (House of the Dragon, The King’s Speech), Carmen Ejogo (True Detective, The Penguin), Imogen Faires (Goldie’s Oldies, Marcella) and newcomer Amelia May. Also joining the cast are Sophie Winkleman (Peep Show, Sanditon) and Nicôle Lecky (Mood, Sweetpea), who also serves as an executive producer.

The brilliant ensemble cast is comprised of Daniel Lapaine (Catastrophe), Hayat Kamille (Vikings: Valhalla), Isabelle Allen (Les Misérables), James Murray (The Crown), Jason York (Mood), Katrina Cas (The Wolf of Wall Street), Nathaniel Martello-White (The Winter King), Sonita Henry (Black Cake), Tara Webb (Phoenix Rise), Will Bagnall (A Thousand Blows) and Hugh Quarshie (Holby City).

Meet Lorna (Carmen Ejogo), a self-made, successful black businesswoman from South London who has worked hard to be where she is – and best friend Juliet (Eve Best), a woman born into the privileged gated community they both call home. Daughters Grace (Imogen Faires) and Allegra (Amelia May) are BFFs and live a life other teenagers can only dream of. A safe haven for the super-rich and their little darlings, Richford Estate is a place where bad things never happen…

Until, that is, Grace and Allegra are implicated in a shocking scandal at their exclusive private school and Juliet and Lorna are forced to take sides, pushing their friendship to breaking point. As toxic secrets and lies ripple through the idyllic town, cracks within the community threaten to reveal the elitist ugliness and betrayal beneath.

Set in a private enclave in the Home Counties, the six-part series is a provocative and deliciously honest look at mother/daughter relationships in a haze of social media, hidden apps and peer pressure that asks: how far will we go to protect our children? And just how much do teenage girls know about the women raising them? If the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, then who is leading these girls astray?

“Like mother like daughter” rings loudly in a complex world, and danger is never far from the surface - even in a perfect town.

Carmen Ejogo says: “Nicôle brings a fresh and less explored UK perspective to her storytelling which resonates with me personally. I'm thrilled to be a part of Wild Cherry for the BBC.”

Eve Best says: “After ‘House of the Dragon,’ I wanted to plunge into something and someone very different from who I’d just been playing. And Nicôle’s brilliantly dark script really keeps me on my toes, which I love.”

Nicôle Lecky, Writer and Creator says: “Getting to work with Carmen and Eve is such a dream, and they have brought Wild Cherry to life in the most special way. Wild Cherry has a brilliant ensemble cast of characters (also led by Amelia and Imogen who are wonderful) and I cannot wait for audiences to meet our Richford Lake residents.” 

Elizabeth Kilgarriff, Executive Producer at Firebird Pictures says: “It is testament to Nicôle’s skill in writing women of all ages with such truth and humanity that we have the privilege of working with such a fabulous and exciting cast.  I can’t wait to see them bring this fantastically entertaining, surprising and provocative world to life in a show that looks beneath the surface of privilege to reveal important and timely questions that resonate with us all.”

Lindsay Salt, Director of BBC Drama says: "It’s incredibly exciting to have this exquisite cast and the brilliant Toby MacDonald on board to bring Nicôle Lecky's scripts full of scandal and swagger to the BBC. This is a hugely entertaining drama with multi-generational appeal, and I can't wait for viewers to become enraptured by the events in Richford Lake…" 

Wild Cherry (6x60) is produced by Firebird Pictures, one of BBC Studios’ owned production labels, for BBC iPlayer and BBC One.