Keeley Hawes will reprise her role as Louisa Durrell as she and the rest of the cast of the The Durrells return to Corfu to film series two of the popular ITV series. The 6 x 60’ hour series will be produced by Sid Gentle Films Ltd.
In the new series Larry (Josh O’Connor) continues to pursue his passion for writing despite a new romance getting in the way; Leslie (Callum Woodhouse) decides to explore his entrepreneurial spirit; Margo (Daisy Waterstone) remains boy crazy and makes a play for someone thoroughly unsuitable; and Gerry (Milo Parker) who prefers animals to people is delighted when he discovers an otter is living close to home.
Daniel Lapaine will join the cast as Hugh Jarvis – an English gentleman who sets his sight on Louisa. But after her failed attempt at marrying Sven, will Louisa be ready for a new man in her life?
Money is still tight for the Durrells and Louisa finds herself on the wrong side of their new landlady Vasilia (Errika Bigio) when she gets behind on paying the rent – it almost feels like Vasilia, who is complexly inflexible, has a personal grudge towards Louisa, but why would that be? Louisa urges the family to brainstorm ideas to make some extra cash. They decide to grow food at home to sell at market. Theo (Yorgos Karamihos) tries to teach Leslie bee-keeping so he can make honey, Margo plants seeds and Gerry milks goats. Spiros (Alexis Georgoulis) is also on hand to offer support, but can they make a success of their new business venture?
Leslie Caron will play Countess Mavrodaki once again, Ulric Von Der Esch returns as Sven, Anna Savva reprises her role as housekeeper Lugaretzia, Lucy Black is back as Florence Petrides and Alexis Conran returns as Dr Petrides.
The first series of The Durrells achieved a peak audience of 8.2million viewers/a 33% share of viewing and averaged 6.9 million viewers across the series, making it ITV’s highest rating new drama series of 2016.
ITV’s Controller of Drama Victoria Fea commissioned this second series.
“We loved The Durrells from the moment the idea was pitched to us and it become even more magical when it was brought to screen,” said Victoria Fea. “It was a very easy decision to commission a second series of this warm and enchanting drama.”
Sally Woodward-Gentle, CEO at Sid Gentle Films Ltd., said: “We absolutely loved making the first series of The Durrells and were overjoyed with the response from viewers when it was broadcast on ITV. We can’t wait to reunite the fantastic cast and crew for Simon Nye’s wonderful scripts and get on a plane to Corfu!”
The Durrells, based on Gerald Durrell’s trilogy of memoirs, tell the story of Louisa Durrell who makes a radical change and uproots her four unruly ‘children’ Larry, Leslie, Margo and Gerry, from Bournemouth to start a new life in Corfu in the 1930s.
The series, based on Gerald Durrell’s novels, is written by Simon Nye (Tommy Cooper: Not Like That, Like This, Just William, Men Behaving Badly) and produced by Sid Gentle Films Ltd. The series is executive produced by the Sid’s founder, BAFTA award winning filmmaker Sally Woodward Gentle (Whitechapel, Any Human Heart, Enid). Sid’s Managing Director Lee Morris (Da Vinci’s Demons, Any Human Heart, The Jury) is executive producer together with Simon Nye. Christopher Hall (Critical, Dracula, Murder on the Home Front) is series producer. Steve Barron (The Durrells, Merlin) and Ed Hall (Partners in Crime, Restless) will direct the second series.
Filming will commence in Corfu at the end of August, with some scenes being filmed in London.
Stay tuned as we monitor the renewal status of The Durrells Series 3…
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