The BBC has announced cast joining Aoife Hinds and Billy Howle in The Ministry of Time.

The series is based on Kaliane Bradley’s bestselling debut novel of the same name and is adapted by Alice Birch (Normal People, The End We Start From, Dead Ringers). Aneil Karia (Top Boy, The Gold, Surge) is the lead director on the six-part series, which is produced by A24 (Beef, Such Brave Girls, Dreaming Whilst Black) for BBC iPlayer and BBC One.

The Ministry of Time is a newly established government department gathering ‘expats’ from across history in an experiment to test the viability of time-travel. Heroine Sophy (Aoife Hinds) achieves a hard-fought promotion in the civil service, only to learn that her role as a ‘bridge’ is to help a time traveller acclimatise to the modern world as part of a top-secret Ministry programme. Commander Graham Gore (Billy Howle) is a Victorian polar explorer and one of several ‘expats’ from history who are now part of the Ministry’s extraordinary experiment.

Hong Chau (The Whale, Wuthering Heights) is Adela, the Vice-Secretary of Expatriation, Adeel Akhtar (Down Cemetery Road, Sherwood) is Quentin Ackerly, Sophy’s ‘handler’ at The Ministry, and Tamara Lawrance (Get Millie Black, Mr Loverman) is Simellia, a ‘bridge’ alongside Sophy. Starring as Commander Graham Gore’s fellow ‘expats’ are Emily Fairn (The Responder, House of Guinness) as Margaret Kemble, Josh Finan (Say Nothing, Waiting For The Out) as Captain Arthur Reginald-Smyth and Aisling Loftus (Sherwood, War & Peace) as Anne Spencer. Tawfeek Barhom (Cairo Conspiracy, The Way of the Wind) and Nahuel Pérez Biscayart (120 Beats Per Minute, Persian Lessons) star as the elusive Brigadier and Salese. Sophy’s parents, Peter and Channary, will be played by Ciarán Hinds (Belfast, Munich) and Hélène Patarot (Paris, Je T’aime, Whitetail).

The Ministry of Time (6×60) was commissioned by Lindsay Salt, Director of BBC Drama, and is written by Alice Birch, adapted from Kaliane Bradley’s novel. It is executive produced by A24, Alice Birch, Kaliane Bradley, Aneil Karia and Jo McClellan for the BBC. Frances du Pille (The Sixth Commandment, What It Feels Like for a Girl) is the producer. The series will be distributed internationally by A24.

Filming is taking place in and around London. Further details for The Ministry of Time will be announced in due course.