Babou Ceesay, Jill Halfpenny Lead Cast of BBC’s Dark Mon£y

Babou Ceesay (Damilola, Our Loved Boy, Best of Enemies) and Jill Halfpenny (Three Girls, In the Club) are to lead the cast of the new four-part drama Dark Mon£y for BBC One.

Written by Levi David Addai (Damilola, Our Loved Boy), Dark Mon£y tells the fictional story of The Mensahs, an ordinary working-class family from North London whose youngest son has recently finished filming a major Hollywood movie role. But Manny (Ceesay) and Sam’s (Halfpenny) world is shattered when Isaac reveals he was abused while out in America by a renowned filmmaker.

Also joining the cast are Rebecca Front (War and Peace, Poldark), Susan Wokoma (Crazyhead, Chewing Gum), Olive Gray (Home from Home), Ellen Thomas (Teachers, EastEnders), Joseph May (Resident Evil), Rudi Dharmalingam (Our Girl) and Gary Beadle (EastEnders).

Produced by The Forge Entertainment, the series will air next year on BBC One.

Addai commented: “I’m delighted to be working with Babou again and thrilled to have Jill on board. They lead a fantastic cast.”

Ceesay said: “I’m delighted to be heading back to the BBC for Dark Mon£y and to be reunited with Levi to tell this powerful story. I’m also looking forward to collaborating with Jill, Lewis and the team.”

Halfpenny added: “I’m thrilled to be playing Sam in Dark Mon£y. Getting the opportunity to work with Lewis Arnold again is fantastic and I’m really excited to work with Babou Ceesay on this incredible project that Levi has created.”

Piers Wenger, controller of BBC Drama, commented: “We are thrilled to be working alongside the brilliant Levi again. In Dark Mon£y he has created a gripping, timely and original script, with the talented Babou and Jill at the heart of the story.”