Jessica Raine to Headline the BBC's 'Two Weeks in August'

The BBC has spent the first quarter of 2025 being very cautious about what it commissioned. There's good reason for U.K. producers to be wary: the fundamental change in transatlantic partnerships at the beginning of the year represents a sea change in the world of business and money, and no one knows how things will shake out. Studios are being encouraged (and following through) with teaming up with European co-producers instead of Netflix, Disney, or Warner Bros. Add in the charter renegotiations, where the BBC will push hard for new revenue streams, and most of the year so far has been the BBC talking about the shows it can't afford to make instead of what it is commissioning.

One of those commissions thus far came in mid-February, as the BBC signed on to produce a brand new, wholly original drama called Two Weeks in August. The eight-part drama series is a story about a group of longtime friends, married couple Zoe and Dan, and their college friends Nat, Jacob, and Solomon, the latter of which brings his new wife, Jess. The group heads out for a two-week holiday to reconnect, only to "uncover more about themselves and each other than they ever expected."

With filming now underway, the BBC has revealed the cast for the series, with Jessica Raine (The Devil’s Hour) leading the ensemble as Zoe and Damien Molony (Bergerac) co-starring as her husband Dan. Leila Farzad (I Hate Suzie) plays Nat, Hugh Skinner (Fleabag) is Jacob, Nicholas Pinnock (Suspect) is Solomon, and Antonia Thomas (Still Up) rounds out the ensemble as Jess.