An unlikely acting combo are set to combine in Channel 4 drama The Siege.
Danny Dyer and The Voice of Hind Rajab star Motaz Malhees are leading the show about the 1980 Iranian embassy siege in London alongside David Morrissey. The adaptation of Ben Macintyre’s book was teased a couple year’s back and has now been confirmed from Slow Horses scribe Will Smith and the producer behind Mr Bates vs the Post Office. Others joining the cast include Alex Jennings (The Crown) and comedian Omid Djalili.
The Siege tells the story of when six armed Arab Iranian separatists burst into the Iranian embassy in London, taking hostage the 26 people inside and demanding autonomy for their people. Over the next six days, the gunmen, the hostages and the police struggled with each other for control of the situation while the soldiers of the SAS mounted plans for a mission to break the siege that would be witnessed by the watching world.
The show is timely, coming as protests rage in Iran against the current leadership and economic inequality, which has drawn widespread condemnation from the international community including Donald Trump. Macintyre’s book was published two years ago and he is seen as an authority on the subject. He is also the author of the SAS: Rogue Heroes source material, which was made into a BBC-MGM+ series starring Jack O’Connell.
Malhees plays one of the main characters in The Voice of Hind Rajab, the Oscar-nominated pic following the Red Crescent’s response to the killing of a six-year-old Palestinian girl. Malhees, who is Palestinian, has been one of the leading voices from the movie leading the call for Palestinian rights amid the Israel-Hamas War. The Hind Rajab premiere drew a record 23-minute standing ovation at Venice.
Dyer is coming off the back of a BAFTA win and a highly-regarded role in Disney+’s Rivals, while Sherwood star Morrissey can soon be seen in ITV’s Gone from George Kay.
The Siege has already landed a co-producer in ARTE France and is being sold by NBCUniversal Global TV Distribution. AC Chapter One, which is run by Mr Bates producer Patrick Spence, is making The Siege, along with Universal International Studios. Director is Lewis Arnold and the producer is Richard Stokes (Broadchurch).
Channel 4 content boss Ian Katz said: “The Iranian embassy siege and the daring raid which ended it was an iconic moment that forged the ferocious reputation of the modern SAS. The show is a heart-stopping, emotional thriller that reveals the little-known motivations of the hapless hostage-takers and the very human reality of what went on inside the embassy as the world looked on and Britain’s most lethal soldiers practiced their high stakes assault.”
‘Close to Home‘ & ‘Wrong Move’
Meanwhile, revealed at a Channel 4 London showcase tonight, Channel 4 and Normal People maker Element Pictures are adapting Michael Magee’s debut novel Close to Home, starring Anthony Boyle (Say Nothing, House of Guinness), Jessica Reynolds(A Woman of Substance, Kneecap), Seamus O’Hara (House of Guinness, Say Nothing) and Oisín Thompson (Trespasses).
Close to Home tells the story of Sean, a young man who finds himself back in Belfast. Back from university and back into old habits. Back on the mad all-nighters, the borrowed tenners and missing rent, the casual jobs that always fall through. Back with his brother, his ma and all the things they never talk about. Back where the promised prosperity of peacetime has yet to arrive and every street has a story to tell. One night, Sean assaults a stranger at a party and everything is tipped into chaos.
The commission comes a few weeks after Channel 4 launched Trespasses, an Irish series about The Troubles adapted from the Louise Kennedy novel and starring Gillian Anderson.
Finally, Channel 4 is making darkly comic thriller Wrong Move from Little Disasters producer Roughcut. The show follows forty-somethings Michael and Catherine, who are making a marriage-saving move into their dream ‘forever home’, selling to parents-to-be Stella and Juliette, who are selling to first-time buyers Asif and Emily. This trio of households find themselves at the mercy of the psychopath at the top of the chain, Detective Sergeant Trevor Bamford. Cast has not yet been set for Wrong Move.
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