Scripted

ITV Studios has confirmed new casting for upcoming drama First Woman, with Jimmy Akingbola, Fra Fee, Kathryn Gallagher, Shazad Latif, Christian Ochoa Lavernia and Ben Miles joining previously announced cast members Andrea Riseborough, Ashley Walters, Jennifer Ehle and Alex Hassell. The six-part lunar thriller is produced by Mammoth Screen, part of ITV Studios, alongside Alcon Television Group and co-producer ZDF. The project is co-financed by Alcon Television Group and ITV Studios.

Created by Lydia Yeoman and George Oakes, based on an original idea by Oakes, the series is directed by Philip Martin and commissioned by ITV Director of Drama Polly Hill. Filming is currently underway in Belfast. First Woman follows biologist Claire Reith, played by Riseborough, who becomes the first woman to walk on the moon as part of a pioneering research mission. When she disappears, suspicion falls on both her fellow astronauts and a rival Chinese lunar base, while her husband Ben, played by Walters, searches for answers from Earth. Akingbola will play astronaut Dr Henry Evans, who oversees the moon base’s nuclear reactor, while Fee stars as astronaut Dr Declan McAllister. Gallagher portrays former NASA astronaut Lucy Miller, now working in Mission Control. Ochoa Lavernia plays mission commander Gabriel Ross, Latif stars as billionaire space programme backer Inesh Vidhani, and Miles takes the role of mission director Peter Talbot.

The series moves between Mission Control in the UK and the lunar surface, combining psychological tension with a race-against-time survival story. Production is taking place with support from Northern Ireland Screen and uses Studio Ulster, described as the UK’s largest virtual production studio, where the lunar environments and moon base are being created. The drama will air on ITV1 and STV, while streaming on ITVX and STV Player. ITV Studios will handle international distribution.