Matthew Macfadyen and Claire Foy Lead You Are Here
Matthew Macfadyen and Claire Foy will lead the BBC and Starz TV adaptation of David Nicholls’ bestselling novel You Are Here. The eight-part series, directed by Lenny Abrahamson and produced by Element Pictures, follows strangers Michael and Marnie on a Coast to Coast walk across England as an unexpected connection forms.
Key Takeaways
- Matthew Macfadyen and Claire Foy star as Michael and Marnie in the You Are Here adaptation.
- BBC and Starz have green-lit the eight-part series from One Day author David Nicholls.
- Lenny Abrahamson directs, reuniting with the BBC for the first time since Normal People.
- Element Pictures produces; filming is set around the Lake District and Manchester.
- Nicholls adapted his own novel and serves as an executive producer alongside the leads.
The announcement puts Macfadyen and Foy at the center of a Nicholls screen romance now green-lit for BBC and Starz, a development also covered in our Streaming & TV Alerts hub. According to Variety, the project was first reported earlier this year and is now formally commissioned by both partners.
Who is starring in David Nicholls’ You Are Here?
Macfadyen plays Michael and Foy plays Marnie, strangers pushed together by a mutual friend before they set out on an epic walk. Nicholls called them “dream casting,” praising their range in comedy and drama and their detailed, sympathetic work.
Abrahamson said he is “extremely excited” to have Claire and Matthew in the leads, calling the novel a beautiful love story that is funny, profound and ultimately hopeful. Both actors also serve as executive producers on the series.
What is the You Are Here series about?
Set along the Coast to Coast trail from the Lake District to Robin Hood’s Bay in North Yorkshire, the story follows Michael and Marnie as they unexpectedly find themselves on the brink of a relationship neither was seeking.
The series is described as being about finding a connection when you least expect it and overcoming the obstacles of midlife. Marnie and Michael go coast-to-coast through the English countryside, navigating an attraction that is exhilarating and terrifying as they move from loneliness toward love.
Nicholls said the novel aimed to be a close-up study of a relationship set against a magnificent landscape, and that the screen ambition is the same: intimate and epic, funny and dramatic—a romantic comedy with real emotion.
Who is making the BBC and Starz adaptation?
Abrahamson directs and reunites with the BBC for the first time since Normal People. You Are Here is an Element Pictures production—a Fremantle company—for the BBC and Starz. Element also produced Normal People.
Global sales will be handled by Fremantle, with De Maio Entertainment spearheading the partnership with Starz. Nicholls adapted the book himself. Executive producers include Abrahamson, Nicholls, Foy, Macfadyen, Ed Guiney, Andrew Lowe and Emma Norton for Element Pictures, plus Jonny Richards and Anna Ferguson for the BBC. Clare Shepherd produces.
Filming is set around the Lake District and around Manchester. No premiere date has been announced.