In the modern television landscape there’s no shortage of political dramas to choose from, and it looks like we have another one on the way courtesy of ITV. Real-life couple Matthew Macfadyen and Keeley Hawes are set to star inStonehouse, a new British political drama from ITV and BritBox where theSuccessionstar will play disgraced English politician John Stonehouse, while Hawes stars as his wife, Barbara.
The show follows a rather interesting story involving Stonehouse, a high-up politician in the British Labour Party in the 1970s, but fell from grace when he was involved in an affair, encountered financial problems, and served as a spy, of all things, for the Czech Secret Service, leading him to crack under pressure before faking his own death and fleeing to Australia. Stonehouse was eventually found and brought back to England by British detectives.
Jon S. Baird, the man behind the 2018 comedic dramaStan & Ollieis set to direct from scripts byThe Dig’sJohn Preston.Stonehouseis produced by the indie studios Snowed-In-Productions andEllie Wood’s Clairewoods Films, who were behindThe Dig. Executive producers for the project include Baird, Preston, Wood, Macfadyen,Neil Blair,Ruth Kenley-Letts,Polly Hillfor ITV, andDiederick Santerfor BritBox International.
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When talking about the upcoming series, Hill, ITV’s Head of Drama, shared nothing but praise for the show saying, “John Preston’s brilliant scripts and the perfect casting of Matthew Macfadyen and Keeley Hawes promise to make this an unmissable drama.”
This series will not be the first time Macfadyen has teamed up with ITV, as he previously starred inQuizfor the network, about a former soldier who cheated on the ITV game showWho Wants to be a Millionaire?. Macfayen is perhaps most familiar to audiences as either Mr. Darcy in 2005’sPride and Prejudiceor as Tom Wambsgans on HBO’sSuccession, while Hawes rose to fame starring in BBC projects likeOur Mutual FriendandAshes to Ashes, before landing roles in Netflix projects likeRebeccaandBodyguard.
There is a lot to look forward to with this uniquely angled political series.Stonehouseis shaping up to be an intriguing show with great talent behind it, and with a wild sounding premise like that, this series is poised for entertaining dramatization full of twists and turns. Especially with Preston writing the series, who brought such an authentic human life toThe Dig, expect some complex character-driven storytelling mixed in with some light bits of levity. For all the latest news onStonehouse, including a pending release date, stick with Collider.
