According to Deadline, Alan Cumming (The Traitors, Schmigadoon!) and Natalie Cassidy (EastEnders) have joined the cast of Boarders for its second season, a drama series produced by the BBC and Tubi. The show, created by Daniel Lawrence Taylor (Timewasters, Cockroaches), centers on five gifted Black teens from inner-city neighborhoods who secure scholarships to St. Gilbert’s, an elite boarding school, and navigate the challenges of fitting into an unfamiliar world.
Cumming will play Alan, a character known for holding students to rigorous standards, while Cassidy takes on the role of Sharon Hail, a teacher at a competing school. Season two introduces a major hurdle for the scholarship students with the arrival of acting headmistress Carol Watlington-Geese, whose goal is to remove them from St. Gilbert’s just as they begin to thrive.
Returning cast members include Niky Wardley (Queen of Oz, Hard Cell), Assa Kanouté (Deep Cover), Tallulah Greive (My Lady Jane), Rosie Graham (Sanditon, The School for Good and Evil), Harry Gilby (The Last Kingdom), Georgina Sadler (The A List), Zheng Xi Yong (Silo), Dillon Mitra (Indian Summers), Archie Fisher (Last Days), Andrew Harmon-Gray, Ruxandra Porojnicu (Coronation Street), Kye Malcolm, Llewella Gideon (Queenie), Mohammed Mansaray (Rules of the Game), Niyi Akin (The Diplomat), Maxim Ays (The Larkins), Al Foran (Deep Fake Neighbour Wars), William Andrews (Broadchurch) and Yuriri Naka (The Window). Among the new additions to the cast are Wunmi Mosaku (Lovecraft Country), Cara Theobold (Downton Abbey), Michael Salami (Supacell) and Kendra Brown, who portrays an American exchange student.
Taylor not only created the series but also stars in it and serves as lead writer, with additional contributions from Yemi Oyefuwa (Everything I Know About Love), Jeffrey Aidoo (Phoenix Rise) and Racheal Ofori (Spent). Directors Joelle Mae David (Queenie) and Sarmad Masud (My Pure Land) helm the episodes, while Ali MacPhail (Horizon: An American Saga) and Carleen Beadle-Larcombe (Cuckoo) take on producing roles. Mykaell Riley (Screen One) returns as the musical director. Executive producers include Taylor, Madeleine Sinclair (Primeval) for Studio Lambert and Nawfal Faizullah (The Tourist) with Katherine Bond (Boat Story) for the BBC.
The series, produced by All3Media-backed Studio Lambert in partnership with Tubi and ZDFneo, will debut next month on BBC iPlayer and BBC Three. It will then roll out on Tubi in North and Latin America and ZDFneo in Germany. All3Media International is handling worldwide distribution.