Relative newcomers Paddy Gibson (What Richard Did) and Jack Lowden (The Tunnel) have been cast as the leads in BBC One’s five episode World War One drama The Passing Bells.
The drama series (formerly known as The Great War) is told through the eyes of two very ordinary young men who enlist in a war they expect will be over within months. As the conflict unfolds, so do the boys stories, as they grow up amid the horror of war, and find love. The series will be told in five chronological parts with each half hour one of the five years of the war.
In addition to Paddy Gibson and Jack Lowden, 24: Live Another Day and Jamaica Inn alum Charles Furness will also star. Rounding out the cast is Brian Fletcher, Wilf Scolding, Hubert Burton, Felix Auer, Ben McGregor, Mark Burghagen, Matthew Aubrey, Eryka Karkuszewska and Sabrina Bartlett.
The Passing Bells, originally commissioned back in April 2013, was created by Tony Jordan and is a co-production between his indie Red Planet Pictures and Apple Film Production through BBC Cymru Wales Drama. The executive producers are Bethan Jones, Dariusz Jablonski, Tony Jordan and Belinda Campbell. Brendan Maher is attached to direct. Production begins in Poland later this month for a November 2014 premiere.
