HBO Max Gives Series Order to Julia Child Drama Starring Sarah Lancashire

It's official: HBO Max has given an eight-episode series order to Julia, in which Last Tango in Halifax star Sarah Lancashire will play the iconic chef Julia Child.

Julia is predominantly inspired by Child's extraordinary life - which includes not just cooking superstardom but a stint with the government organization that was a precursor to the CIA - and her long-running series, The French Chef, which basically invented the concept of food television that has come to dominate your cable guide today. Through Child's singular can-do spirit, the series will explore an evolving time in American history — the emergence of a new social institution called public television, feminism and the women's movement, and the nature of celebrity.

Lancashire has starred in an array of series as diverse as Happy Valley, Lark Rise to Candleford, and The Paradise, as well as the aforementioned Last Tango. She certainly has the experience to do such a complex woman justice, even if it does feel a bit strange to have a British woman playing such a singularly American icon.