Matthew Rhys, Jamie Dornan, Ann Skelly On Board Death and Nightingales

Jamie Dornan (The Fall, The Siege of Jadotville) and Matthew Rhys (The Americans, The Post) have signed on to lead the cast of the new BBC drama Death and Nightingales, joined by Ann Skelly (Red Rock, Kissing Candice).

The three-part drama is adapted and directed by Allan Cubitt (The Fall). Made by Imaginarium Productions and Soho Moon, Death and Nightingales is a story of love, betrayal, deception and revenge, set in the countryside of Fermanagh in 1885. The series takes place over a tense 24-hour period, on Beth Winters’ (Skelly) 25th birthday, the day she has decided to join the charming Liam Ward (Dornan) and escape from her limited life and difficult and complex relationship with her Protestant landowner stepfather Billy (Rhys).

The series is based on Eugene McCabe’s modern Irish classic. Red Arrow Studios International is distributing.

Rhys said: “I’ve been a huge fan of Allan Cubitt’s work for many years so I’m thrilled to have been given the chance to work on Death and Nightingales alongside Jamie and Ann and return to the BBC.”

Dornan added: “I’m thrilled to be reunited with Allan and his brilliant scripts to play such an intriguing character like Liam Ward and to return to Northern Ireland and BBC Two.”

Skelly commented: “Playing such a strong character as Beth Winters is truly an actor’s dream, and a fantastically intense challenge to be given the opportunity to play. And to get to work with such brilliant actors like Matthew and Jamie, and a director like Allan Cubitt, is just surreal to me. I can’t wait to start!”

Producer Jonathan Cavendish said: “We are thrilled to combine the wonderful talents of Matthew Rhys and Jamie Dornan with the remarkable new star in the making Ann Skelly.”

Tommy Bulfin, executive producer for BBC Two, said: “With the phenomenal Ann Skelly cast as Beth and with Jamie Dornan and Matthew Rhys returning to the BBC, to have a cast of this caliber on board for Death and Nightingales is incredibly exciting. I can’t wait to see them bring Allan’s brilliant scripts to life.”