Matthew Macfadyen (Succession) and Claire Foy (All of Us Strangers) will star in You Are Here, a BBC and Starz adaptation of author David Nicholls‘ bestseller of the same name.
Nicholls has penned the eight-part adaptation, which will be produced by Normal People maker Element Pictures. Lenny Abrahamson, who directed Normal People, is the director. Element parent Fremantle has international sales rights, with De Maio Entertainment overseeing the partnership with Starz, which has greenlit the show alongside the BBC.
Set along the coast-to-coast walking trail from the Lake District to Robin Hood’s Bay in North Yorkshire in England, You Are Here” will be filmed in the Lake District and around Manchester.
Macfadyen and Foy lead the cast as Michael and Marnie, respectively. Per the synopsis, “When a mutual friend throws them together, Marnie and Michael unexpectedly find themselves setting off on an epic walk. Against the odds, they end up on the brink of a relationship that neither was looking for, but which might be exactly the one they both need.”
“I’m so delighted to be working on You Are Here with Element, the BBC, Starz and Lenny, whose work I’ve admired for many years,” said Nicholls, the prolific author whose book One Day was adapted as a romantic drama for Netflix in 2024.
“Matthew and Claire are both just dream casting, wonderful in comedy and drama, so detailed and thoughtful and sympathetic,” he added. “The intention with the novel was to write a close-up study of a relationship, but set against this magnificent landscape, and that’s our ambition here too; to make something both intimate and epic, funny and dramatic, a romantic comedy with real emotion. We can’t wait to bring Marnie and Michael’s journey to the screen.”
Abrahamson called the novel “such a beautiful love story – funny, profound and ultimately deeply hopeful,” while Element co-founder and executive producer Ed Guiney praised Abrahamson and Nicholls as “two of the most talented creators working today.”
Nicholls Abrahamson are executive producers alongside Foy and MacFadyen, Guiney, Andrew Lowe and Emma Norton for Element Pictures and Jonny Richards and Anna Ferguson for the BBC. The series is produced by Clare Shepherd.
Lindsay Salt, BBC Director of Drama, said: “Like countless others, I loved this book, packed full of charm, humor, heartache and joy. The combination of David’s wonderful scripts, Lenny back directing on the BBC, Element Pictures producing, and Claire and Mathew leading our cast is a real gift. I can’t wait for Marnie and Michael to spring off the page and onto the screen. BBC viewers are in for a treat.”
You Are Here comes soon after Starz boarded another British drama, the Bella Ramsey-led Channel 4 show Maya. Over recent months, it has also acquired has acquired the BBC’s Rebecca Hall-fronted The Listeners, Sky’s Amadeus and Channel 4’s Russell T. Davies-created Alan Cumming-led drama Tip Toe.
Kathryn Busby, President of Original Programming, Starz, said: “You Are Here is disarming, sly and deeply romantic. It captures something true and aching about the way we love now. Together with our partners at the BBC, we are thrilled to be working with the dream team of David, Lenny, Claire, Matthew and Element Pictures to bring this beautiful love story to life. It’s a perfect fit for our Starz audience.”
