Erin Doherty, who drew critical acclaim for her portrayal of Princess Anne in the recent fourth season of The Crown, is among the young cast for upcoming Amazon Studios/BBC psychological thriller series Chloe, joining Billy Howle (The Serpent), Pippa Bennett-Warner (Gangs of London), and Jack Farthing (Poldark).
A mystery about obsession, deceit, identity and grief from creator and writer Alice Seabright (director, Sex Education) and Mam Tor Productions, Chloe — which has now started production —also stars Poppy Gilbert (Stay Close), Akshay Khanna (Grace), Brandon Micheal Hall (Search Party), and newcomer Alexander Eliot.
The six part series, which will premiere on BBC in the U.K. and on Amazon Prime across the rest of the world, sees Doherty play Becky. Still living with her mom and working as a temp, Becky compares herself to the picture-perfect lives on Instagram, compulsively returning to one account: Chloe’s (Gilbert). Becky obsessively watches her seemingly flawless life through social media. But when Chloe dies suddenly, Becky’s need to find out how and why leads her to assume a new identity and engineer a “chance” meeting with Chloe’s best friend, Livia (Bennett-Warner), and infiltrate Chloe’s group of close-knit friends.
Through her alter-ego Sasha, Becky becomes a powerful, transgressive heroine; a popular, well-connected “someone” with a life, and loves, that are far more exciting and addictive than the “no one” she is as Becky. However, the pretense soon obscures and conflates reality, and Becky risks losing herself completely in the game she is playing.
“Becky is a complex, courageous heroine and there is no one better to play her than Erin,” said Alice Seabright. “All these characters have been a dream to write, and it now feels like they’ve found their soulmates in our amazing cast. I can’t wait to start bringing the show to life with them, and with our wonderful crew. Thank you to the BBC and Amazon, to our brilliant writers, Kayleigh Llewellyn, Poppy Cogan, and Bolu Babalola, and to my partners in crime — the powerhouses Tally Garner and Morven Reid.”
Being shot in the British city of Bristol, Chloe will also feature work of artists local to the region, including an original score composed by Will Gregory (Goldfrapp) featuring Adrian Utley (Portishead) and Alison Goldfrapp.
Chloe is a co-production between BBC One, Mam Tor Productions and Amazon Studios, and was commissioned by Piers Wenger, director of BBC Drama and Charlotte Moore, BBC chief content officer. It is created, written, and directed by Seabright who also serves as an executive producer. The series producer is Joanna Crow (Giri/Haji) and second block director is Amanda Boyle (Skins). Executive producers are Tally Garner (Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell) and Morven Reid (Pure) for Mam Tor Productions, and Ben Irving for the BBC.
Banjay Rights is the international distributor for Chloe, with the business’ Matt Creasey, EVP sales and acquisitions serving as broker of the exclusive worldwide SVOD deal with Amazon Studios.
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