Aoife Hinds (Image: Pip) and Billy Howle (Image: Iona Wolff)
By Jon Donnis
The BBC and A24 have begun filming The Ministry of Time, a new six-part drama based on Kaliane Bradley’s bestselling debut novel. Production is now under way in and around London, with Aoife Hinds and Billy Howle leading the cast.
Hinds, known for Normal People and Dune: Prophecy, plays Sophy, a civil servant whose hard-earned promotion takes her into a secret government experiment unlike anything she could have anticipated. Howle, whose credits include The Perfect Couple and Under the Banner of Heaven, plays Commander Graham Gore, a Victorian polar explorer brought forward from the 19th century as part of the programme.
The series centres on a newly established government department tasked with gathering people from different periods of history, known as ‘expats’, and bringing them into the present day. The experiment is intended to establish whether time travel can work on a practical level, with Sophy assigned to help Graham adapt to modern life.
What begins as a professional relationship gradually develops into an intense and forbidden romance. Their growing connection becomes increasingly complicated as Sophy discovers that the Ministry's motives may be far more sinister than she first realised. As the true purpose of the experiment emerges, their relationship places both of them in increasing danger.
Alice Birch, who previously worked on Normal People, The End We Start From and Dead Ringers, has adapted Bradley's novel for television. Aneil Karia, whose credits include Hamlet, The Gold and Surge, serves as lead director.
Bradley said she is excited to see the story brought to the screen, joking that she might have reacted very differently had she travelled back six years and discovered what would happen to the polar explorer she had begun writing about.
BBC Director of Drama Lindsay Salt described the series as a distinctive, genre-defying drama, highlighting the relationship between Sophy and Graham at the heart of the story. She also praised Birch's adaptation and said the BBC was looking forward to audiences joining the pair on their unusual journey.
The Ministry of Time will consist of six 60-minute episodes and is being produced by A24 for BBC iPlayer and BBC One. Frances du Pille is the producer, while executive producers include A24, Alice Birch, Kaliane Bradley, Aneil Karia and Jo McClellan for the BBC.
Amediateka, Bell Media's Crave, Binge Australia and ZDF are co-producing the series, with A24 handling international distribution.
With its combination of science fiction, historical figures, government conspiracy and an increasingly dangerous romance, The Ministry of Time has the ingredients for a drama that can move between genres while keeping its central relationship at the forefront. The casting of Hinds and Howle also puts two performers with strong dramatic credentials at the centre of a story that spans centuries.
Further casting and details about the series are expected to be announced in due course.
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