David Thewlis boards Landscapers with Will Sharpe confirmed to direct, as new Sky Original drama goes into production

• David Thewlis joins Olivia Colman as further casting announced
• BAFTA winning Will Sharpe confirmed as director

Today Sky announces that David Thewlis (I’m Thinking Of Ending Things, Fargo) is confirmed to play Christopher Edwards, opposite Academy Award and BAFTA winning actress Olivia Colman (The Favourite, The Crown), previously confirmed in the role of Susan Edwards, as filming begins in the UK on the Sky Original drama Landscapers. Produced by SISTER, the award-winning producers of Chernobyl, in association with South of the River Pictures, the four-part series also sees Kate O’Flynn (Bridget Jones's Baby), Dipo Ola (We Hunt Together), Samuel Anderson (The History Boys), Karl Johnson (Hot Fuzz), Felicity Montagu (I’m Alan Partridge) and Daniel Rigby (Eric and Ernie, Flowers) joining the Sky Studios and HBO co-production. The exhilarating and darkly funny exploration of love and fantasy sees writer-director Will Sharpe (Louis Wain, Flowers) set to bring his singular vision to a story inspired by real events, created and written by debut screenwriter Ed Sinclair.

Will Sharpe, Director, comments: “It's a huge privilege to be collaborating with Ed, SISTER, Sky, HBO and our extraordinary cast and crew on this exciting project. We cannot wait to unearth for you the bizarre shape-shifting truths that lie buried in the unsettling yet deeply romantic world of Landscapers.”

David Thewlis, Lead Actor, adds: “This is without doubt the very finest project I have worked on for many years. Everything about Landscapers is magical, there is nothing like it and I’m impatient to get to work so that its brilliance can be shared with the rest of the world.”

Landscapers tells a unique love story involving a seemingly ordinary couple who become the focus of an extraordinary investigation when a couple of dead bodies are discovered in the back garden of a house in Nottingham.

Mild-mannered husband and wife Susan (Colman) and Christopher Edwards (Thewlis) have been on the run from reality for over 15 years. When Christopher makes a startling call home to his step-mother, their role in a terrible crime that remained undiscovered for over a decade begins to emerge into the light. As their relationship is subjected to the glare of a full police investigation, the devoted couple are separated for the first time in their marriage.

As the investigation moves forward, inspired by Susan’s obsession with old Westerns and classic cinema the fantasists cast themselves as Hollywood heroes in narratives of their own invention. Powered by Susan’s extraordinary imagination, Susan and Chris’s fantasy world provides a much needed sanctuary from real-world horrors and their own clawing guilt, but also threatens to undo them completely.

In its visually bold and unique style, Landscapers, pivots through various perspectives from Susan and Chris, to the police officers and lawyers involved in the investigation. Exploring the idea of multiple truths, Landscapers asks just how far are you prepared to go for the one you love?

Thewlis will play the role of Christopher Edwards, Susan’s husband; O’Flynn plays DC Emma Lancing; Ola plays Douglas Hylton, Susan’s solicitor; Anderson plays DC Paul Wilkie; Johnson plays William Wycherley, Susan’s father; Montagu plays Patricia Wycherley, Susan’s mother; Rigby plays DCI Geoff Collier.

In the UK, Ireland, Italy, Germany and Austria, the series will launch on Sky Atlantic. In the UK, Ireland and Italy, it will also be available on streaming service NOW, as well as Sky Ticket devices in Germany, Sky X in Austria and Sky Show in Switzerland. International sales for Landscapers will be handled by NBCUniversal Global Distribution on behalf of Sky Studios.

The series was commissioned by Zai Bennett, Managing Director of Content, Sky UK and Ireland, and Cameron Roach, Director of Drama, Sky Studios. Landscapers is produced by SISTER in association with South of the River Pictures for Sky Studios and HBO. The Executive Producers are Jane Featherstone (Chernobyl, The Split) and Chris Fry (Giri/Haji, Chernobyl) for SISTER and Ed Sinclair and Olivia Colman for South of the River Pictures. Serena Thompson is the Executive Producer for Sky Studios. Landscapers is produced by Katie Carpenter (The Bisexual, Flowers) and directed by Will Sharpe (Louis Wain, Flowers) who also serves as Executive Producer.

For further information please contact:

Sky
Annabel Combe, annabel.combe@sky.uk
Thom Will, thom.will@sky.uk

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