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.

Here's the series synopsis:

Set in Greece, Two Weeks in August tells the story of a woman who goes on holiday with her family and friends to rediscover joy in her life. But, here in paradise, what starts with an illicit kiss quickly turns the dream vacation into a nightmare. Zoe begins to act on her deepest desires, and the holiday she hoped for becomes a reckoning for a group of adults who refuse to grow up.

When they discover they are trapped on the island and become faced with real life-or-death situations, the group soon turns on each other to find out who is to blame. Is Zoe responsible for the drama and destruction around her, or, as heaven turns to hell, are bigger forces at play? We are in Greece, after all, the land of the ancient Gods…

Supporting cast for the series will include Dolly Wells (The Outlaws), Tom Goodman-Hill (Mr Selfridge), Dylan Brady (Mary & George), Maria Almeida (Fifteen-Love), Khalil Gharbia (Towards Zero), Florence Banks (The New Look), Sonny Poon Tip (Industry), Cassius Hackforth (Doctor Who), and newcomers Eliza Lambon, Anthony Lambon, and Joe Dixon.

Catherine Shepherd (The Shrink Next Door) wrote all eight episodes of the series; Tom George (Sherwood) is the lead director and split helming duties with Matthew Moore (The Great), with Rhonda Smith producing. Shepherd and George serve as executive producers alongside Roberto Troni & Kat Reynolds for Various Artists Limited and Jo McClellan for the BBC. 

Two Weeks in August is currently filming in Malta and Gozo, and is expected out by the end of 2025. No American distributor has been named as yet.