Written by Dave Elliott

Channel 4 has set a May premiere date for Falling, a new six-part romantic drama from BAFTA award-winning writer Jack Thorne (Adolescence, Help), starring Keeley Hawes (Scoop, Miss Austen) and Paapa Essiedu (Black Mirror, The Lazarus Project) as two people who really, really should not be falling in love. Which, naturally, is exactly what happens.

Produced by The Forge Entertainment, a Banijay UK company, Falling stars Keeley Hawes as Anna, a devoted nun who has spent most of her adult life inside a convent, and Paapa Essiedu as David, a Catholic priest with radical ideas about the role of the church in the community. Both are deeply committed to their faith, their work, and their vows. Neither is expecting a chance encounter to upend absolutely everything.

The drama follows Anna and David as their paths unexpectedly intertwine, with a misunderstanding and a moment of connection threatening the lives they have carefully built. As Anna begins a new life outside the convent walls, and David battles to bring meaningful change to a community in desperate need of support, both are forced to wrestle with desire, fear, faith, duty, and the awkward little matter of their relationship with God.

Speaking about the series, Keeley Hawes says: “I’m thrilled to be taking on the role of Anna and so looking forward to working alongside the brilliant Paapa Essiedu to bring Jack Thorne’s beautiful scripts to life.”

For Hawes, the appeal was immediate. “It couldn’t fail to speak to me because at its heart it’s a love story. Beautifully observed, unsentimental and very tender. The characters are so well drawn, and I have wanted to work with Jack Thorne for a long time. I was also intrigued by the fact that Jack had never written a love story. He has created something very special.”

Paapa Essiedu adds: “Falling is a story that has Jack Thorne’s singular talent of mining the sublime out of the ordinary running all the way through. I can’t wait to work with Keeley, Peter and the rest of the team to bring this world to life.”

Essiedu describes David as a man trying to rebuild himself after a tragedy in his past left him broken and struggling with alcohol. “He turned to alcohol and had to go through a rehabilitation process, trying to put his life back together in terms of his relationship with God and with what he feels is his calling as a man of God.”

And then Anna appears.

“It’s not fireworks or huge declarations, necessarily, but very small interactions that become bigger in one’s mind or heart,” says Essiedu. “I think that’s very true of real life. With the people we end up falling in love with, we very often can trace it back to one specific moment when it changes the chemistry in your brain and body.”

Alongside Hawes and Essiedu, the cast includes Rakie Ayola (The Pact, Kaos) as Muriel, Jason Watkins (Coma, The Lost Honour of Christopher Jefferies), Niamh Cusack (The Virtues, Heartbeat), Adrian Scarborough (Gavin and Stacey, The Chelsea Detective), David Dawson (My Policeman, The Last Kingdom), Susan Brown (Mr Bates vs The Post Office, It’s A Sin), Sandra Voe (Howards End, Vera Drake), and newcomers Holly Rhys and Shayde Sinclair.

Ayola describes Falling as “a gorgeous love story about a community I don’t know much about,” adding that she had not seen this world “represented with this richness.” Her character Muriel becomes an important figure in Anna’s new life, offering shelter, friendship, and a wonderfully practical approach to complicated emotional disaster.

Sophie Stone (Doctor Who, The Chelsea Detective) plays Susan, David’s sister, whose relationship with him is one of the drama’s emotional anchors. Stone says the sibling bond in Thorne’s scripts was “beautifully tender, direct and painfully familiar in its unattainability,” with the pair tied together by a shared language, shared history, and the lingering effects of a difficult childhood.

The series also sees Essiedu using British Sign Language in scenes with Stone, something he took seriously during preparation. Stone praises his work, saying: “Paapa was an exceptional student and understood exactly what he was holding. Every moment watching him sign was very special.”

For Jack Thorne, Falling marks his first ever love story, although not exactly the sort where someone drops a coffee, meets cute, and everyone has a nice time. This being Thorne, it comes wrapped around faith, guilt, family, trauma, community, and the terrifying business of doing something utterly irrational because your heart has just kicked the door down.

“I never thought I’d write a love story, but I am very excited to be making one with the brilliant Peter Hoar,” says Thorne. “We feel so lucky we have persuaded the mighty (and lovely) Keeley Hawes, the brilliant (and also lovely) Paapa Essiedu and the most amazing company of (lovely) actors to come make this with us, The Forge and Channel 4.”

Thorne says the essence of the drama is “love at first sight,” something he experienced himself with his wife, Rachel. “There was just this moment when it was like, ‘Oh, it’s you.’ I had an idea of how my life was going to be, not necessarily seeing marriage and all that stuff in the future. Then, thunderbolt city, my life was changed.”

The six-part drama is executive produced by George Ormond, George Faber and Jack Thorne, with Joe Donaldson (Cobra, Ripper Street, Peaky Blinders) producing. Peter Hoar (It’s A Sin, The Last of Us, The Umbrella Academy) directs, alongside Sasha Ransome.

Commissioning Editor, Drama, Gwawr Lloyd says: “The combination of Keeley Hawes and Paapa Essiedu, alongside Jack Thorne’s incredible scripts and Peter Hoar’s direction means this will be the most extraordinary show. We are so excited to bring this unique and compelling love story to Channel 4.”

Falling premieres Tuesday, 19th May 2026 at 9pm on Channel 4.

Source: Geek Town