Rivals star Alex Hassell and Game Of Thrones actor Kit Harington are among the cast in a “gripping, provocative and action-packed” new drama inspired by Army Of Shadows.
The Channel 4 show reimagines the Joseph Kessel 1944 eponymous novel and the 1969 film adaptation by Jean Pierre Melville about the emergence of the French resistance during Nazi occupation in the Second World War.
Written by MobLand creator Ronan Bennett and also called Army Of Shadows, the series follows Berry, a former soldier living in an altered Britain as he starts to build a secret resistance network of people who have decided they cannot look away any longer.
The six-part series explores the cost of resistance and threat of a ruthless minister who will do anything to maintain order in an occupied Great Britain.
It will also star House Of The Dragon’s Paddy Considine and Barbie and Ugly Betty actress America Ferrera.
Gwawr Lloyd, interim head of drama at Channel 4, said: “Ronan Bennett has created a gripping, provocative and action-packed drama that feels both epic in scale and strikingly relevant.
“Army Of Shadows asks powerful questions about freedom, resistance and the choices people make when democracy is under threat.”
Directed by Lisa Gunning, the series will be developed and produced with the support of the Melville family and the Kessel estate, which is controlled by the Irish Red Cross.
The series is co-produced by Studiocanal and Two Cities Television, with filming already under way in Manchester, Liverpool, London and Paris.
Anna Marsh, chief executive at Studiocanal, said: “We are incredibly proud to have developed this series from inception, attaching an extraordinary cast and creative team to bring Army Of Shadows into production today.”
