Jennifer Ehle (Contagion, Zero Dark Thirty) and Alex Hassell (Rivals, Wasteman, His Dark Materials) have joined the cast of ITV’s upcoming lunar thriller First Woman alongside Andrea Riseborough and Ashley Walters.

Created by Lydia Yeoman (Curfew) and George Oakes, from his original idea, and directed by Emmy and BAFTA winning Philip Martin, the six-part drama has been commissioned by ITV’s Director of Drama, Polly Hill, with production company Mammoth Screen, part of ITV Studios, commencing filming in Belfast.

A biologist taking part in a groundbreaking research project, Claire Reith (Andrea Riseborough) is the first woman to set foot on the moon, and her disappearance throws suspicion on her fellow astronauts and China’s rival base. With hundreds of thousands of miles between them, can her husband Ben (Ashley Walters) uncover the truth behind his wife’s disappearance?

Jennifer Ehle stars as Helen Sadler, an investigator with the UK Space Flight Authority, tasked with uncovering what happened to Claire. Sceptical that Claire left the Lunar Module of her own freewill, her enquiry begins to expose the secrets concealed within Mission Control.

The UK’s Prime Minister Christopher Scott, Alex Hassell, is polished, pragmatic and disciplined. He has built his centrist political identity on the belief that Britain must compete on a global stage, and as the crisis begins to deepen, he finds his position increasingly precarious. How far will Christopher go in pursuit of his own personal ambition?

First Woman is co-produced by Mammoth Screen (Code of Silence, Towards Zero, Betrayal), part of ITV Studios, Alcon Television Group (Blade Runner 2099, The Expanse) and ZDF Germany. The series is being co-financed by Alcon Television Group and ITV Studios.

The scripts are from lead writer Lydia Yeoman (Curfew), George Oakes and Ben Schiffer. First Woman is produced by Julia Stannard (The Bombing of Pan Am 103, Trigger Point, War and Peace) and directed by Philip Martin (Scoop, The Crown, Mo).

The series is executive produced by Mammoth Screen’s founder and Chief Creative Officer Damien Timmer alongside James Gandhi, Philip Martin, George Oakes and Lydia Yeoman. Mammoth Screen’s Creative Director Rebecca Keane has overseen the development of the series. ITV’s Director of Drama, Polly Hill, will oversee the production from the broadcaster’s perspective. The series has been commissioned for airing on ITV1 and STV and streaming on ITVX and STV Player.

Alcon Television Group will co-produce the series with Broderick Johnson, Andrew Kosove, Scott Parish, Diego Piasek, Steven Johnson and Ben Roberts serving as Executive Producers.

Filming is underway in Belfast supported by Northern Ireland Screen. The production team is utilising Studio Ulster, the largest and most advanced virtual production studio in the UK, where the lunar landscape and moonbase have been created.

The deal marks Alcon Television Group’s first co-financed co-production of this kind and signals the company’s broader ambition to expand its footprint in premium television through similar international partnerships.

First Woman will be produced in association with and distributed internationally by ITV Studios. The production is supported with funding from Northern Ireland Screen.  UNIT VFX will work in close partnership with Mammoth Screen and Alcon delivering creative visual effects during production while POLI PRODUCTIONS creative Rob Carlisle collaborates with Philip Martin and Production Designer Gillian Devenney to create the spectacular lunar vistas.