Paramount+ continues to expand its scripted offering with “Little Disasters,” a psychological thriller from BAFTA-winning creative team Roughcut Television, adapted from Sarah Vaughan’s bestselling novel “Anatomy of a Scandal.” The series debuted in May in the UK and Ireland and will now broaden its international footprint with an HBO Max premiere in October across Spain, Portugal, and the Netherlands, followed by launches in France and Belgium (both Flemish and French) later this year.
“Little Disasters” explores the complexities of female friendship and motherhood through the intertwined lives of Jess, Liz, Mel, and Charlotte—four women who first meet at an antenatal class and remain bound together through the early years of parenting. The drama centers on Jess, played by Diane Kruger (“Troy,” “Inglourious Basterds,” “In the Fade”), a seemingly perfect stay-at-home mother whose life unravels when she brings her infant daughter to the hospital with an unexplained head injury.
Her friend Liz, portrayed by Jo Joyner (“The Wives,” “For Her Sins,” “Shakespeare & Hathaway”), is the attending A&E doctor forced to make the agonizing decision of whether to call social services, triggering a chain reaction that threatens their families and friendships. Emily Taaffe (“The Rising,” “The Beast Must Die,” “War and Peace”) and Shelley Conn (“Gen V,” “Alex Rider,” “Bridgerton”) round out the central quartet, with their characters drawn into the fallout as suspicions and hidden judgments test their bonds. The drama raises a haunting question that resonates across the group: “Am I a bad mother?”
The cast also includes JJ Feild, Ben Bailey Smith, Patrick Baladi, and Stephen Campbell Moore. The adaptation was scripted by Ruth Fowler and Amanda Duke, with executive production by Roughcut Television’s Ash Atalla, Alex Smith, and Marianna Abbotts, alongside author Sarah Vaughan. Fremantle’s Simon Judd also serves as executive producer, with Eva Sigurdardottir directing and Myf Hopkins producing. Commissioning for Paramount+ was overseen by Sebastian Cardwell, deputy head of content in the UK, and Paul Testar, editor-in-charge, with Fremantle handling global sales.
The rollout onto HBO Max marks a significant expansion for “Little Disasters,” highlighting the growing appetite for premium international drama across European markets and reinforcing Paramount+ and Fremantle’s strategy of leveraging prestige literary adaptations to reach global audiences.