Nancy Mitford’s classic romance novel, The Pursuit of Love, will be adapted as a miniseries by BBC and Amazon. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Lily James (Baby Driver) will star and Emily Mortimer (Mary Poppins Returns) will serve as the sole writer and director for the miniseries.
The Pursuit of Love has started casting now that the show has been given the green light to resume production following all U.K. projects’ productions being shut down due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The Pursuit of Love is one of the first productions to continue production, although it will follow an entirely new set of guidelines put in place by the U.K. government and industry standards.
The novel takes place in England during the interwar period. It follows Linda, the eldest daughter of the Radlett family, as she tries to find love amidst the rapidly changing social and political climate of her country. James will play Linda Radlett, with Emily Beecham (Into the Badlands) as her best friend and cousin Fanny Logan. They will be joined by Andrew Scott (Fleabag), Dominic West (The Wire), Beattie Edmondson (Josh), Dolly Wells (Portlandia), Freddie Fox (The Mystery of Edwin Drood), Assaad Bouab (Whatever Lola Wants), Shazad Latif (Penny Dreadful), and Mortimer herself in unannounced roles.
In a quote released to The Hollywood Reporter, Mortimer expressed her admiration for the original novel: “I’ve always loved Nancy Mitford, so when I was asked to adapt The Pursuit of Love it was impossible to say no. It’s an outrageously funny and honest story, whose central character — the wild, love-addicted Linda Radlett — still reads as a radical.”
The Pursuit of Love will air on BBC One in the U.K. with three hour-long episodes. Amazon, working with Open Book and Moonage Pictures, will produce the series for the United States, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia. While production is underway, it is unknown when the series will be released.