BBC Studios confirms commissioning deal with Paramount+ UK for "The Castaways"

BBC Studios has secured a commissioning deal with Paramount+ for the new original UK drama series "The Castaways." The title will be available exclusively on Paramount+. “I'm so delighted that The Castaways is being made for Paramount+," Author Lucy Clarke also said. "It promises to be an incredible adaptation; the scriptwriting is electric, and Sheridan and Céline are perfectly cast as Lori and Erin. It is such fun working with the teams at Clapperboard and BlackBox who couldn't be more passionate about bringing my novel to life.”

Based on the bestselling novel of the same name by Lucy Clarke, "The Castaways"  will be produced by Clapperboard Studios and BlackBox Multimedia, with the show filming on location in Greece and Fiji from next month.  Ben Harris will serve as executive producer on the series, also sharing writing tasks with Polly Buckle and Jesse O’Mahoney. Andy Tohill and Ryan Tohill will contribute to the show as directors, while Myf Hopkins serves as the producer. Mike Benson is executive producer for Clapperboard, whilst Giuliano Papadia and Chiara Cardoso are executive producers for Blackbox Multimedia. The title was ordered by Sebastian Cardwell, Deputy Chief Content Officer, UK, at Paramount, and will be distributed globally by BBC Studios.

"The Castaways" is part of Paramount+’s strategy to commission 150 international originals by 2025, and will debut exclusively on the service in the UK. The series is the second Lucy Clarke adaptation planned for the service, alongside NO ESCAPE, which is available on Paramount+ UK from May 18th. The Castaways joins the expanding slate of UK originals for Paramount+, which includes a "Gentleman In Moscow," "The Ex-Wife," "The Flatshare," "Sexy Beast," "No Escape," "The Killing Kind" and "The Burning Girls." 

The adaptation of Clarke’s thriller follows sisters Lori and Erin on the holiday of a lifetime in Fiji. After a huge fight, Erin never boards the island-hopping flight to their tropical resort - and the plane, with Lori on board, never arrives at its destination. Months later, no wreckage has been found, no survivors discovered. With the search abandoned, Erin remains a lone, desperate voice refusing to give up hope. Suddenly, Lori’s credit card is used in a corner shop in a remote village in Fiji. On the CCTV, Erin recognises the plane’s pilot back from the dead. She then sets out from the UK to find him and discover the mystery of her sister’s fate.

Jumping between the two sisters’ perspectives, the title follow Erin’s present day investigation and Lori’s struggle for survival following the crash onto a tropical and remote desert island. As dark secrets are revealed both in the past and present day, each shocking twist and turn slowly reveals the truth about what happened to Lori and her fellow passengers - a truth that someone on the island will kill to keep secret. “In Ben Harris we have one of the most empathetic and thrilling writers and both he and the writing team have done a tremendous job adapting Lucy’s gripping novel. We’re determined to deliver a fantastic series for our friends and partners at Paramount+ and BBC Studios.”