Olivia Colman and Susan Sarandon have joined the already stacked cast of Channel 4’s upcoming thriller Army of Shadows. The Academy Award winners will star alongside previously announced cast members Paddy Considine, America Ferrera, Alex Hassell and Kit Harington in the six-part drama from The Day of the Jackal creator Ronan Bennett. Leila Farzad, Luther Ford, Amara Okereke, Patrick O’Kane, Anjli Mohindra, Ed Ashley and Zoë Telford have also now joined the ensemble.

What Is Army of Shadows About?

Inspired by Jean-Pierre Melville’s 1969 film and Joseph Kessel’s book of the same name, Army of Shadows takes the idea of resistance under occupation and relocates it to a fictional occupied Great Britain.

The story follows a former soldier known only as Berry, who begins building a secret resistance network beneath the surface of seemingly ordinary British life. He is joined by a group of people who decide they can no longer stand by, including a soldier, student, radiographer and journalist, while facing a state with extensive power and an American intelligence operative named Jessie.

The series has been developed and produced with the support of the Melville family and Kessel estate, with the original story having centred on the French Resistance during the Nazi occupation of France.

Who Is in the Army of Shadows Cast?

Olivia Colman and Susan Sarandon are the latest additions to a cast that already includes Paddy Considine (House of the Dragon), America Ferrera (Barbie), Alex Hassell (Rivals) and Kit Harington (Game of Thrones).

Leila Farzad (I Hate Suzie, Two Weeks in August), Luther Ford (The Man I Love, The Crown), Amara Okereke (The Choral, In the Lost Lands), Patrick O’Kane (Steal, The Day of the Jackal), Anjli Mohindra (Half Man, The Lazarus Project), Ed Ashley (A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, Masters of the Air) and Zoë Telford (The Crow Girl, The Lazarus Project) have also been confirmed. Channel 4 has not yet revealed which characters each of the newly announced cast members will play.

All six episodes will be directed by Lisa Gunning, whose previous credits include Black Doves and The Power. The series comes from STUDIOCANAL and Two Cities Television, the production company behind Blue Lights and part of STV Studios, giving the project a nice Scottish industry connection too.

When Will Army of Shadows Be Released?

Channel 4 has not yet announced a release date for Army of Shadows. The six-part thriller will air on Channel 4, with further transmission details still to come.

For CultureCues, this cast was already impressive before Olivia Colman and Susan Sarandon joined it, so adding both of them takes things up another level. Ronan Bennett coming straight from The Day of the Jackal gives us even more reason to be excited for it. The occupied-Britain premise sounds like it could make for a tense six episodes, and with this many brilliant names involved, Army of Shadows is quickly becoming one of Channel 4’s biggest upcoming dramas.

Army of Shadows will air on Channel 4, with a release date still to be announced.

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