Netflix and Orchid Pictures have announced a six-part series based on Roald Dahl’s short stories for adults, with the news unveiled today at the Edinburgh TV Festival.
Written by Danny Brocklehurst, the series began production this month in Manchester and across the North of England.
Dahl is best known for his children’s books, but he also had a parallel career writing macabre short fiction for adults. His stories often combined dark humour with unexpected twists and appeared in publications including Collier’s, Harper’s, Playboy and The New Yorker. More than 60 of his short stories have been published, with collections including Someone Like You and Kiss Kiss.
Dahl received three Edgar Awards from the Mystery Writers of America, including for Someone Like You, “The Landlady” and the Tales of the Unexpected adaptation of “Skin.” His adult fiction has also been adapted for television and film previously, including “The Smoker,” also known as “Man from the South,” which was adapted for Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Tales of the Unexpected and Quentin Tarantino’s segment of Four Rooms.
The contemporary series will follow a young couple stranded in a faded seaside town, where they encounter conmen, adulterers, murderous mothers and snake charmers as they attempt to escape before their own fate is sealed.
The cast includes Naomi Scott (Smile 2, Aladdin), Josh Finan (Say Nothing, Waiting For the Out), Imelda Staunton (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, The Crown), Nicola Coughlan (Bridgerton, The Magic Faraway Tree), Toby Jones (Mr Bates Vs The Post Office, MobLand), Carmen Ejogo (The Penguin, True Detective), Dominic West (The Wire, The Crown), Christine Tremarco (Adolescence, The Responder), Michael Socha (The Cage, Showtrial) and Clarke Peters (The Boroughs, The Wire).
Brocklehurst is writer and executive producer alongside Gabriel Silver (Chernobyl, Gangs of London) and Suzanne Mackie (The Boys from Brazil, The Crown) for Orchid Pictures. Sarah Lewis (The Long Shadow, The Forsytes) is series producer.
Runyararo Mapfumo (Sex Education, Kaos) directs the first block, with Ben Gregor (The Magic Faraway Tree, Brassic) directing the second.
“The short stories of Roald Dahl were what first made me want to become a writer,” said Brocklehurst. “His enthralling, macabre and always unexpected tales gave life to vibrant, larger than life characters like The Landlady, Mister Boggis and the mysterious Fingersmith.”
“To be given the chance to bring these characters to life in a contemporary setting is a dream come true,” he added. “I couldn’t be more thrilled to be partnering with Orchid Pictures, Netflix and this outstanding cast.”
Netflix acquired the Roald Dahl Story Company in 2021.