Ray Winstone (The Sweeney), Aneurin Barnard (The White Queen), Anthony Ofoegbu (Spooks), Martin Trenaman (The Inbetweeners), Lorcan Cranitch (Silent Witness), Ben Chaplin (Wipers Times), Sophie Cookson and Omid Djalili have joined the cast of Sky1’s upcoming two-part drama Moonfleet. As TVWise previously reported, production on the mini-series is set to commence this Summer on location in Dublin.
Winstone has been cast as Elzevir Block, the leader of the local band of smugglers; Barnard as lead character John Trenchard, who is desperate to join Elzevir Block’s crew; Ofoegbu as Loder, one of the smugglers on Elzevir Block’s crew; Martin Trenaman as the Turnkey; Lorean Cranitch as Meech, one of the smugglers on Elzevir Block’s crew; Ben Chaplin as Mohune, the local anti-smuggling magistrate; Cookson as Grace, the daughter of the local magistrate and John’s first love and Omid Djalili as Aldobrand, a diamond merchant.
Based on the John Meade Falkner novel of the same name, Moonfleet is set in the small Dorset village of Moonfleet and follows the young John Trenchard who is haunted by dreams of the legendary Blackbeard and captivated by the whereabouts of his fabled diamond. Desperate to join the local band of smugglers, a turn of events unites him with Elzevir Block, the leader of the gang. Together they embark on a danger-filled adventure to locate Blackbeard’s most treasured possession. The scripts were written by Life On Mars scribe Ashley Pharoah. Company Pictures is producing the drama is association with Element Pictures, with Dan McCulloch serving as the producer. The executive producers are Huw Kennair-Jones, Charlie Pattinson, Claire Ingham, Ashley Pharoah and Patrick Spence. Andy de Emmony is directing.
