BBC Orders California Avenue from Hugo Blick

The BBC has ordered the new drama California Avenue from writer and director Hugo Blick (The English, The Honourable Woman, Marion and Geoff) for BBC One and BBC iPlayer.

Starring Bill Nighy (Living, About Time), Helena Bonham Carter (The Crown, Nolly), Erin Doherty (The Crown, Adolescence) and Tom Burke (Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, The Souvenir), the series centers on Lela, who arrives in a secluded caravan park deep in the English countryside on the run with her 11-year-old child.

Doherty stars as Lela, and Nighy and Bonham Carter play her parents.

California Avenue will be produced by Drama Republic (One Day, Doctor Foster). It marks the latest collaboration between Blick, Drama Republic, Eight Rooks and the BBC following The English, The Honourable Woman and Black Earth Rising.

Executive producers on the series include Blick for Eight Rooks; Greg Brenman for Drama Republic; Nighy; Bonham Carter; and Lucy Richer for the BBC. Colin Wratten (The English, Lockerbie: A Search for Truth) is serving as producer.

Mediawan Rights and Entourage Media will distribute the series internationally.

“Over the past few decades, whether through comedy, political dramas or even a western, I’ve looked to explore what television fiction can be,” Blick said. “California Avenue is an exploration of the people who inspired me to want to do this.”

Brenman commented, “In California Avenue, Hugo has conjured a world of precious relationships and unexpected revelations, all delivered with a big, big heart and generous humor. If you ever needed reminding of Hugo’s incredible range as a storyteller, look no further.”

Lindsay Salt, director of BBC Drama, added, “Hugo Blick has given us some of the finest television of the past three decades, and it’s an honor to join forces with him alongside Bill, Helena, Erin, Tom and Drama Republic to take BBC viewers on the journey of a lifetime to 1970s California Avenue.”