Michaela Coel devises First Day On Earth for HBO and BBC and will play the leading role

Michaela Coel, known for I May Destroy You, is working with HBO and the BBC on her next drama series. Coel writes and stars in First Day On Earth, a ten-part series that she describes as "another very personal story for me". The series comes four years after I May Destroy You launched on the WBD network and the British public broadcaster.



Coel (photo) plays the leading role of the British writer Henri, who is in prison. Her work has dried up and her relationship is going nowhere. So when she is offered a job on a film in Ghana, West Africa - her parents' home country, where her estranged father lives - she can't resist the opportunity to reconnect with him and the country of her origins.

But when she arrives, neither the job nor her father turn out to be as she expected and soon Henri must deal with danger and hypocrisy, make new friendships, lose her illusions and create a new sense of identity - a sense that could make her stronger, but that could also break her.

The series comes from Various Artists, which was founded by Succession's Jesse Armstrong, his Peep Show collaborator Sam Bain and former Channel 4 commissioners Phil Clarke and Roberto Troni, and A24.

Various Artists (VAL) produced I May Destroy You and Coel has collaborated with A24 on the upcoming film Mother, Mary.

Coel will produce the series alongside Armstrong, Clarke and Troni, as well as Jo McClellan for the BBC and Piers Wenger for A24. Filming will start next year.

Coel said, “I am delighted to be working with VAL, HBO and the BBC again, and to partner with A24; thanks to all of their combined taste, care and expertise, I feel our show is in great hands. First Day On Earth is another very personal story for me which I hope will engage viewers from all over the world, and I can’t wait for audiences to go on Henri’s journey with her.”

Amy Gravitt, EVP, HBO & Max Comedy Programming, said, “Michaela’s words have the ability to transport the reader like no other. I am thrilled to have the opportunity to continue the conversation that began with I May Destroy You, alongside our close collaborators at VAL, A24 and the BBC. With Henri as our guide, First Day On Earth is as lyrical as it is visceral in its excavation of the idea of home. “

Lindsay Salt, director of BBC Drama, added: “Michaela is one of those exceptional talents whose work I have long admired. I May Destroy You is one of the reasons I wanted to join the BBC. In First Day On Earth, Michaela has created another unmissable series – truly original, heartfelt, hilarious, poetic storytelling and told in a way that only Michaela can. I can’t wait for everyone to see it.”