Netflix and Orchid Pictures have announced a new six-part series based on Roald Dahl’s short stories for adults, with Danny Brocklehurst adapting the author’s famously dark and twisted tales.
Production has begun this month in Manchester and across the North of England, with an ensemble cast led by 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).
The series will see Brocklehurst weave multiple stories together into what Netflix describes as a deliciously twisted tale inspired by Dahl’s iconic adult short fiction.
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The official logline reads: “Danny Brocklehurst weaves a deliciously twisted tale through Roald Dahl’s iconic short stories. A young couple, marooned in a faded seaside town, navigate conmen, adulterers, murderous mothers and snake charmers as they attempt to escape before their own fate is sealed…”
Runyararo Mapfumo will direct the first block of the series, with credits including ‘Sex Education’ and ‘Kaos,’ while Ben Gregor (The Magic Faraway Tree, Brassic) will direct Block 2.
The project reunites Netflix with the Roald Dahl Story Company after the streamer acquired the company in 2021. That deal gave Netflix access to Dahl’s extensive catalogue of beloved and often wonderfully macabre stories, spanning works including Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Matilda, The BFG and The Witches, as well as his adult short fiction.
Unlike Dahl’s children’s books, his adult stories frequently explore darker territory, with tales of deception, revenge, crime, infidelity and unexpected violence.
Netflix has yet to announce a release date for the six-part series.
