Andrea Riseborough & Ashley Walters Star In ITV Thriller ‘First Woman’

EXCLUSIVE: To Leslie star Andrea Riseborough and Adolescence‘s Ashley Walters will front an out-of-this-world ITV thriller drama, First Woman.

Deadline hears ITV Studios-owned Mammoth Screen, Blade Runner 2099 firm Alcon Television and ZDF in Germany are attached to co-produce the six-part lunar series, which will dart between space and Earth, blending sci-fi and thriller elements.

Philip Martin is the director, with Lydia Yeoman and George Oakes, who had the original idea, the creators. The series is being co-financed by Alcon Television Group and ITV Studios, the latter of which has international sales rights.

Here’s the logline: When Ben Reith (Walters) is woken in his London home to be told that his wife Claire (Riseborough) has gone missing, it’s the start of a global news story, because Claire is an astronaut crewing the UK’s first moonbase and she’s disappeared into the long lunar night.

Claire is the first woman to set foot on the moon. A biologist taking part in a groundbreaking research project, her disappearance throws suspicion on her fellow astronauts and China’s rival base. With hundreds of thousands of miles between them, can Ben uncover the truth behind his wife’s disappearance?

The series marks Oscar nominee Riseborough’s first television project since the 2024 HBO miniseries The Regime and comes during an ongoing hot streak for the actress in which she’s landed film roles in Johnny Depp pic Ebenezer: A Christmas Carol and Don DeLillo adaptation Zero K and acted in the likes of The Good Boy and Goodbye June.

As for Walters, his stock continues to rise on the back of his Golden Globe- and Emmy-nominated role in Netflix’s Adolescence and his first feature as director, Animol, which debuted in Berlin. He’s also been cast in HBO series Dune: Prophecy and was the star of Netflix’s Top Boy.

ITV’s Director of Drama Polly Hill commissioned the drama, saying: “I wanted ITV to make this the moment I read it. The team that has come on board on and off screen is incredible, and a testament to the wonderful and original scripts. Ashley Walters and Andrea Riseborough are such exciting casting, and Philip Martin is going to take the audience on such an incredible journey, that I am thrilled to share with the audience.”  

The scripts come from lead writer Lydia Yeoman (Curfew), Oakes and Ben Schiffer. Julia Stannard (War and Peace) is the producer. Mammoth Screen’s founder and Chief Creative Officer, Damien Timmer, is executive producer alongside James Gandhi, Martin, Oakes and Yeoman. Mammoth Screen’s Creative Director, Rebecca Keane, oversaw development of the series. 

Alcon Television Group will co-produce the series with Broderick Johnson, Andrew Kosove, Scott Parish, Diego Piasek and Ben Roberts serving as executive producers. This marks the first time the company as co-financed a co-production of this sort, as it seeks to further push into international TV through similar deals.

UNIT VFX will work with Mammoth Screen and Alcon delivering creative visual effects during production, while Poli Productions creative exec Rob Carlisle is teaming with Martin and production designer Gillian Devenney to create the lunar vistas. The lunar landscape and moonbase are being housed at Studio Ulster, the UK’s largest virtual production studio.

ITV’s Director of Drama, Polly Hill, will be responsible for drama’s production from the broadcaster’s perspective. The show is being produced in association with and distributed internationally by ITV Studios, with further funding support from Northern Ireland Screen. Filming is underway in Belfast supported by Northern Ireland Screen.

ITV and ZDF will be banking the star power of Riseborough and Walters, two of the UK’s hottest acting talents right now, and the ambition of such a large scale production.

“As a kid, I dreamed, perhaps more than anything, of space,” said Riseborough. “Of emptiness and stars, and the vastness of all that those ‘grounded’ reflected on in verse. I can’t imagine a kinder, bolder, braver team than Philip and Ashley with whom to step into that realm. This will be endlessly compelling – I hope – for all who want to journey with us. I cannot wait.”

Walters added: “What an honour to be a part of such a bold and propulsive drama with a team of people that I have dreamt of working with. I always want to be a part of projects that make us converse and think outside the box. This one does just that.”

Mammoth Screen’s Gandhi and Timmer said called the series “the ultimate emotional rollercoaster” and added it was “going to be one of the most ambitious ITV dramas ever made,” while Alcon’s Kosove and Johnson on behalf of Alcon Television Group called it a “gripping, character-driven thriller set against the backdrop of the modern space race.”

Martin noted the action would switch between Mission Control in the UK and the lunar surface. “This is a race against time like no other, with the remaining astronauts under increasing pressure and Ben hoping against hope that he and his wife can be reunited,” he added. “But how well can two people really know each other?”

Yeoman added: “Set in the exciting – and as-yet-unexplored – world of private space travel, First Woman is a thriller unlike anything else we’ve seen. This is the story of a marriage put through the ultimate test. It’s rare that you get given the opportunity to tell a story with such ambition and scope, and we’re eternally grateful to Polly at ITV and Alcon for allowing us to do that.”