Russell Tovey to star in BBC Australian penal colony drama

Russell Tovey has been cast as one of the leads in Banished, a forthcoming BBC Two drama series from Jimmy McGovern (Cracker, The Streets).

According to a BBC press release, the series is “loosely inspired by events in the 18th century when Britain established a penal colony on the other side of the world”.

It is set in New South Wales, Australia in 1788 and will follow “the lives, loves, relationships and battle for survival of a group of convicts, the soldiers who guard them and the men who govern them in the early days of this settlement”.

Filming is due to begin north of Sydney next month (April) and Banished will be broadcast on BBC Two in 2015.

Alongside Looking favourite Tovey, the series will star Myanna Buring (Ripper Street), Julian Rhind-Tutt (The Hour) and David Wenham (Top Of The Lake).

McGovern said in a statement: “How the first convicts survived is the best story I’ve come across in over 30 years as a dramatist. When you’ve got something like that, you don’t worry about the narrative; you just concentrate on the characters. That is what we did. Consequently, I don’t think I’ve ever written anything so character-driven.”

Meanwhile, Russell Tovey has recently been upgraded to a regular cast member for the upcoming second season of HBO’s Looking – read the full story here.