A "tense" and "cinematic" new British thriller series is on the way that fans will want to keep an eye out for.
The Iris Affair, which features The Night Manager's Tom Hollander and The Virtues' Niamh Algar in the lead roles, follows a genius who steals plans for a top-secret piece of tech, before being pursued by the entrepreneur who hired her.
The eight-part series comes from Luther and Hard Sun creator Neil Cross, who has promised that the lead character Iris Nixon (played by Algar) is unlike anyone we've met before on TV.
"All I wanted to do was to make a show I wanted to watch," he said in a statement last year, previewing the show as "an unapologetically exciting, witty, chase-driven adventure show and features a lead character the like of which I don't think we've ever met before on TV".
He further teased "complex characters", adding that he couldn't "be more excited to share this world and these characters".
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The Iris Affair is being written by Cross alongside Susan E Connolly (Hidden Assets) and Ian Scott McCullough (The Mosquito Coast), while Terry McDonough (Killing Eve) and Sarah O'Gorman (A Gentleman in Moscow) are directing.
Cross and McDonough are also on board as executive producers alongside Tim Bricknell (The Power), Adrian Sturges (Gangs of London), Jenni Sherwood and Dante Di Loreto (American Horror Story).
The series is being made as a co-production between Sky Studios and Fremantle, the latter of which is behind the likes of Normal People and Deutschland, alongside Wildside, which produced The New Pope.
Filming took place last year in Sardinia, Italy.
What is The Iris Affair about?
The Iris Affair is described as "a tense and cinematic chase thriller that pits two brilliant minds against each other in a deadly game of hide and seek across Italy".
"When enigmatic genius Iris Nixon cracks a string of complex online puzzles, she’s led to a piazza in Florence where she meets charismatic entrepreneur Cameron Beck (Hollander)," the synopsis adds.
"He invites her to come and work for him to unlock a powerful and top-secret piece of technology. Her curiosity piqued, she accepts. But when Iris discovers its dangerous potential, she steals the journal containing the device’s activation sequence – and vanishes.
"What follows is a relentless pursuit, from a remote cabin in Sardinia through the bustling streets of Rome, as Cameron races to find Iris in a high-stakes game where trust is dangerous and failure could be catastrophic."
Who is in The Iris Affair?
Alongside Hollander and Algar, a host of names have been announced for the cast, including:
• Kristofer Hivju (Game of Thrones) as Jensen Lind
• Harry Lloyd (Arcane) as Hugo Pym
• Meréana Tomlinson (The Trials) as Joy
• Sacha Dhawan (Doctor Who) as Alfie
• Maya Sansa (Dormant Beauty) as Nico
• Marco Leonardi (Cinema Paradiso) as Bruni
• Angela Bruce (Doctor Who) as Meski
• Lorenzo De Moor (A Simple Favor 2) as Teo
• Peter Sullivan (Poldark)
• Debi Mazar (Entourage)
When will The Iris Affair be released?
A firm release date hasn't been confirmed just yet, though viewers can expect the show to premiere on Sky and NOW this autumn.
The Iris Affair will air on Sky and NOW.
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Sam is a freelance reporter and sub-editor who has a particular interest in movies, TV and music. After completing a journalism Masters at City University, London, Sam joined Digital Spy as a reporter, and has also freelanced for publications such as NME and Screen International. Sam, who also has a degree in Film, can wax lyrical about everything from Lord of the Rings to Love Is Blind, and is equally in his element crossing every 't' and dotting every 'i' as a sub-editor.
