Ben Miles, best known for portraying Peter Townsend in The Crown, has been cast in ITV's upcoming six-part space thriller First Woman. The series, described as a suspenseful drama, centres on a woman who disappears during a lunar mission.
Plot Overview
The story follows Ben Reith, played by Adolescence star Ashley Walters, who wakes up one morning to find his wife Claire (Andrea Riseborough) missing. Claire is an astronaut crewing the UK's first moonbase, and her disappearance sparks a global media sensation as she vanishes into the long lunar night. Claire is also the first woman to set foot on the moon, a biologist participating in groundbreaking research. Suspicion falls on her fellow astronauts and China's rival base. The synopsis poses the question: with hundreds of thousands of miles between them, can Ben uncover the truth behind his wife's disappearance?
Cast and Production
Joining the ensemble are Pride and Prejudice star Jennifer Ehle and Alex Hassell, who will soon return as Rupert Campbell-Black in the second series of Rivals. Other cast members include The Tower's Jimmy Akingbola, Unchosen's Fra Fee, You's Kathryn Gallagher, Nautilus' Shazad Latif, and Neuromancer's Christian Ochoa Lavernia. ITV teased the casting on Instagram, calling it a groundbreaking project with a mystery that reaches across the stars.
Polly Hill, ITV's director of drama, expressed excitement about the series: "I wanted ITV to make this the moment I read it. The team that has come on board on and off screen is incredible, and a testament to the wonderful and original scripts."
Creator Lydia Yeoman noted: "Set in the exciting world of private space travel, First Woman is a thriller unlike anything else we've seen. This is the story of a marriage put through the ultimate test."
