ITV has announced a new eight-part period drama, Jericho, starring ex Call the Midwife lead Jessica Raine.
It's set in the Yorkshire Dales in the 1870s, and focuses on the shantytown of Jericho, home to a community that will live, thrive and die in the shadow of the viaduct they’ve been brought together to build. Jericho is 'rough, rustic and remote, yet with a wild west, carnival atmosphere' and full of pioneers, outcasts and people with secrets, according to ITV.
Jessica will play Annie Quaintain, a woman who refuses to let tragedy define her. In the shadow of her husband’s death and penniless as he has gambled away everything they owned, Annie and her two teenage children hope to rebuild their lives in Jericho.
ITV's director of drama Steve November said: “Jericho focuses on the creation of a community from nothing and the human stories and epic struggles of survival that will emerge. We’re grateful to [writer] Steve Thompson for creating such wonderful and intriguing characters and to [ITV Studios drama director] Kate Bartlett and her production team.”
Joining Jessica in the cast are Clarke Peters (The Wire, Notting Hill), Daniel Rigby (Eric and Ernie, Big School), Mark Addy (Atlantis, The Full Monty), Lorraine Ashbourne (The Syndicate, The Street) and Hans Matherson (The Tudors).
The drama will go into production later this month in north Yorkshire.
