Claire Foy and Matthew Macfadyen to star in BBC’s You Are Here TV adaptation
By Pierra Willix, Press Association Senior Entertainment Reporter
Claire Foy and Matthew Macfadyen will star in the TV adaptation of You Are Here.
Written by David Nicholls – who also wrote One Day, Us and Sweet Sorrow – the novel was released in 2024 and follows a man and woman who undertake a coast-to-coast walk across the English countryside.
The BBC and Starz are now adapting the novel, with Nicholls also writing the eight-part series, which will be directed by Normal People’s Lenny Abrahamson.
Foy, best known for starring in The Crown, will lead the cast alongside Succession’s Matthew Macfadyen. They will play Marnie and Michael, who find themselves setting off on an epic walk after being thrown together by a mutual friend.
The synopsis has teased: “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.”
The BBC has added that the story is about “finding a connection when you least expect it and overcoming the obstacles of midlife”.
It continued: “Treading the tricky path from loneliness to love, Marnie and Michael go coast-to-coast across the stunning (and sometimes soaking) English countryside, navigating an undeniable attraction that is as exhilarating as it is terrifying.”
Set along the Coast to Coast walking trail from the Lake District to Robin Hood’s Bay in North Yorkshire, the series will be filmed in the Lake District and around Manchester.
Nicholls said he was “delighted” to be working on the adaptation, saying he “admired” Abrahamson’s work and called Foy and Macfadyen his “dream casting”.
“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,” he added.
Abrahamson said: “As a huge admirer of David’s writing, I’m delighted to be collaborating with him to bring You Are Here to the screen. The novel is such a beautiful love story – funny, profound and ultimately deeply hopeful. I’m also extremely excited to have Claire and Matthew, two actors I hugely admire, playing Michael and Marnie.”
Element Pictures’ executive producer Ed Guiney said You Are Here “feels to us like a drama the world needs right now – life-affirming, positive, funny and full of charm”.
The BBC’s director of drama Lindsay Salt said the book was “packed full of charm, humour, heartache and joy” and that viewers of the series were “in for a treat”.
Nicholls also shared a post on Instagram in which he said: “Despite all the dialogue (because of all the dialogue) it has been a tough book to adapt – so much is unexpressed, and that’s in part the theme of the book, the difficulty of saying what one really feels.
“But that’s also the pleasure of adaptation and the thrill of working with amazing actors. The rest of the cast are great – more on that soon.”
The author’s third novel One Day – which was released in 2009 – has also previously been adapted, first into a 2011 movie starring Anne Hathaway and then into a 2024 Netflix series that starred Leo Woodall and Ambika Mod.
His novel Starter For Ten was also adapted into a 2006 film starring James McAvoy, while another of his books – Us – was turned into a 2020 TV series starring Tom Hollander.
