Per Variety, BBC has acquired rights to the upcoming war drama series, The Narrow Road to the Deep North. Created by Shaun Grant (Mindhunter, Deadline Gallipoli) and Justin Kurzel (Exposure, Shantaram) and starring Jacob Elordi (Euphoria, Acting for a Cause), the five-part series will be an adaptation of author Richard Flanagan’s (Death of a River Guide, The Sound of One Hand Clapping) Booker Prize-winning novel of the same name, published in 2013.
Described as “encompassing both the horrors of war and intimacy of deep love,” The Narrow Road To The Deep North will see Elordi portray protagonist Dorrigo Evans, a young man who experiences some of life’s most extreme ups and downs, from embarking on a passionate love affair with Amy Mulvaney, portrayed by Odessa Young (The Staircase, The Stand), to being held captive in a POW camp and, eventually, becoming a revered surgeon and reluctant war hero. Ciarán Hinds (The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, The Dry) will play an older version of Evans.
According to Sue Deeks (Intruders, Out of the Blue), the BBC’s head of program acquistion, “The Narrow Road to the Deep North is a complex, beautiful, and heart-wrenching series which sensitively interweaves several stages in the life of surgeon Dorrigo Evans, from the passion of first love, to the unflinching depiction of life as a prisoner of war in occupied Burma.” She added, “We are so very pleased to bring this truly exceptional adaptation to BBC viewers.”
Curio Pictures’ Jo Porter (High Country, The Artful Dodger) and Rachel Gardner (Firebite, The New Legends of Monkey), who both serve as executive producers, said: “‘[Flanagan’s novel] is an epic tale of the sustaining power of love under the harshest of circumstances. Curio is honoured to help bring to this spectacular story to life with creators Shaun Grant and Justin Kurzel, novelist Richard Flanagan and our brilliant cast and crew. We can’t wait for audiences to see it.”
Alexandra Taussig (Top of the Lake, Life Support) serves as producer while Porter, Gardner, Kurzel, Grant and Flanagan serve as executive producers. Screen Australia provided principal production funding with assistance from the NSW Government through Screen NSW’s Made in NSW and PDV Funds.
The Narrow Road to the Deep North is produced by Sony Pictures Television-backed Curio Pictures, presented by Amazon MGM Studios, and directed by Kurzel from a screenplay by Grant. The series will be broadcast in the U.K. on BBC One, and BBC’s proprietary streamer iPlayer, and it will also be broadcast in Canada, Australia and New Zealand on Prime Video.
There is currently no release date scheduled.