Hunting Alice Bell, the new British drama from Channel 4, has added Rudi Dharmalingam and Alexandra Roach to its cast.
The upcoming series, created by David Baddiel and Peter Bradshaw, is said to focus on the theme of mistaken identities, specifically exploring the way in which social media “turbocharges rage, rumour and disinformation in today’s world” (via Deadline).
With Polly Buckle and Kate Verghese onboard as writers, the series is said to have begun filming in Ireland earlier this week. Dharmalingam and Roach, perhaps best known for The Split and Nightsleeper respectively, are the first actors to be cast for the project.
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In addition to portraying James Cutler in the BBC legal drama The Split, Dharmalingam has had roles in The Lazarus Project, Great Expectations and Missing You, the latter of which was based on a novel by Harlan Coben.
Roach, meanwhile, will also be seen in a show involving Coben, with the actor set to be joined by Bill Nighy and Sam Claflin in Lazarus, an upcoming thriller limited series made for Prime Video.
BBC
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“Lazarus follows a man (Claflin) who returns home after his father’s (Nighy) death and begins to have disturbing experiences that can’t be explained,” reads the official synopsis.
“He quickly becomes entangled in a series of cold-case murders as he grapples with the mystery of his father’s death and his sister’s murder 25 years ago,” continues the logline for the series, which has been co-created by Coben and Danny Brocklehurst.
Sam Taylor//BBC
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Roach, who has also appeared in The Light in the Hall and Killing Eve, is said to be portraying the sister of the central figure, with the character being “forced to confront secrets from her own past”.
In a slight twist on the formula, Lazarus is a completely original work instead of being based on one of Coben’s novels, with the author saying: “I thought, ‘I could write this as a novel, but I’m seeing it as a TV series’. It’s a little more of a ghost story, very visual.”
Hunting Alice Bell and Lazarus have no release dates.
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Reporter, Digital Spy George is a freelance writer who specialises in Movies and TV. After graduating with a degree in Film Studies and Journalism from De Montfort University, in which he analysed the early works of Richard Linklater for his dissertation, he wrote for several websites for GRV Media. Â His film tastes vary from blockbusters like Mission: Impossible and John Wick to international directors such as Paolo Sorrentino and Hirokazu Kore-eda, and has attended both the London and Berlin film festivals.
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