Back in 2020, British actor and writer Michaela Coel floored audiences with the unflinching HBO and BBC co-produced semi-autobiographical show I May Destroy You, which Exclaim! named one of the best TV series of the year. It was confirmed that Coel was working with BBC on a follow-up project in 2021, but details were incredibly scarce — until now.
The showrunner is now set to star in another BBC and HBO co-production, a drama called First Day on Earth, which will begin filming in 2025. Succession creator Jesse Armstrong is among the executive producers attached to the title with his Various Artists Limited (VAL) company, as well as A24's Piers Wenger.
"I am delighted to be working with VAL, HBO and the BBC again, and to partner with A24; thanks to all of their combined taste, care and expertise, I feel our show is in great hands," Coel said in a statement. "First Day on Earth is another very personal story for me which I hope will engage viewers from all over the world, and I can't wait for audiences to go on Henri's journey with her."
The show's official logline is as follows:
British novelist Henri (Coel) is stuck. Work has dried up, her relationship is going nowhere. So when she's offered a job on a film in Ghana, West Africa — her parents' homeland, where her estranged father lives — she can't resist the chance to reconnect with him and the country of her heritage. But when she arrives neither the job nor her father turn out the way she expected, and soon Henri has to deal with danger and hypocrisy, form new friendships, lose her illusions, and create a new sense of identity — one that might leave her stronger, but could also break her.
Intriguing! Besides working on this project in the interim since I May Destroy You, Coel has also guest-starred in Prime Video's Mr. & Mrs. Smith remake and made her MCU debut as Aneka in the Black Panther sequel Wakanda Forever.