TVDRAMA
BBC and Red Seam have unveiled the cast for The Way, a new three-part drama directed and co-created by Michael Sheen for BBC One.
Steffan Rhodri (Steeltown Murders, Gavin and Stacey), Mali Harries (Keeping Faith, Hinterland), Sophie Melville (The Pact, Iphigenia in Splott), Callum Scott Howells (It’s a Sin, Cabaret) and Sheen (Staged, Good Omens) lead the cast as an ordinary family who are forced to escape the country they’ve always called home amid a civil uprising in their small industrial town.
Additional cast members are Maja Laskowska (Trigonometry, Baptiste), Luke Evans (Nine Perfect Strangers, The Pembrokeshire Murders), Tom Cullen (The Gold, Weekend), Danny Sapani (Killing Eve, The Diplomat), Mark Lewis Jones (Outlander, The Crown), Paul Rhys (Discovery of Witches, Chaplin), Erin Richards (The Crown, Gotham), Aneurin Barnard (The Catch, 1899),Catherine Ayers (The Light in the Hall, Keeping Faith), Jonathan Nefydd (Pobol y Cwm, Grav), Matthew Aubrey (Keeping Faith, World on Fire) and Andria Doherty (It’s a Sin).
The series is written by James Graham, who co-created the series with Sheen and Adam Curtis. It is produced by Wales-based Red Seam in association with Little Door Productions with the financial support of Creative Wales and has just begun filming in Port Talbot.
The Way was co-commissioned by BBC Cymru Wales and will air on BBC One and iPlayer. ITV Studios is distributing the series internationally.
“I feel very lucky to get to work every day with these phenomenal actors,” Sheen said. “We’ve always had so much acting talent here in Wales, and I’m very grateful to have the opportunity to tell this extraordinary story with the very best at work today.”
Lindsay Salt, director of BBC Drama, commented, “I’m delighted to see cameras now rolling on The Way, with so many immensely talented people coming together to bring Michael, James and Adam’s unique and hugely entertaining story to screen. Life’s about to change forever for the Driscoll family!”
“The team behind The Way are a class act,” added Nick Andrews, head of commissioning for BBC Cymru Wales. “They personify just how hot drama production is in Wales right now. This is our biggest year ever of drama for BBC Cymru Wales and the talent pipeline is astonishing. It is terrific to be working with this team and I know our audiences are going to love the story they’re telling. It’s one hell of a caper.”
Gerwyn Evans, deputy director at Creative Wales, said, “It’s a very exciting year for the Welsh screen industry, with an exciting slate of drama productions coming to our screens in 2023. Today’s exciting announcement of The Way’s stellar cast is an excellent demonstration of the success of Creative Wales’s relationship with BBC. and the ways in which Welsh Government support helps to create opportunities to create quality content using Welsh talent, to tell our uniquely Welsh stories.”
