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Samantha Morton and Ruby Stokes will lead the cast in the Paramount+ adaptation of CJ Tudor’s The Burning Girls.

The novel has been adapted into a six hour miniseries by Hans Rosenfeldt (Marcella, The Bridge) which has begun filming on location in and around London and South East England.  “I’m so thrilled to be working with such a talented and esteemed team on such an exciting show,” Morton said.

The story is set in Chapel Croft, a village haunted by a dark and turbulent history. Samantha Morton will play Reverend Jack Brooks, a single parent haunted by a tragedy from her previous church and who bears the onus of her husband’s death. Stokes will play her 15-year old daughter, Flo, a teenager who marches to the beat of her own drum. Jack and Flo Brooks arrive in Chapel Croft in the hope of a fresh start however, they soon find the village rife with conspiracies and secrets, where uncovering the truth can be deadly in a community with a bloody past.

Five hundred years ago, Protestant martyrs – including two young girls – were betrayed and burned at the stake. Thirty years ago, two teenage girls disappeared without a trace.  And a few weeks ago, the vicar of the local parish hanged himself in the nave of the church.  Psychological horror meets small-town mystery in this story of a troubled vicar, desperate to exorcise the demons of her past and find peace in their new home, what message is someone trying to send them? The more Jack and Flo unearth, the deeper they are drawn into the age-old rifts, mysteries, and suspicions of this insular village.

Also in the cast are BAFTA EE Rising Star nominee Conrad Khan (Peaky Blinders) as Lucas Wrigley, Rupert Graves (Sherlock, Emma) as Simon Harper, Stranger Things star Elodie Grace Orkin as Rose Harper,  Olivier Award winner Janie Dee (Official Secrets) as Clara Rushton and David Dawson (The Last Kingdom) as Aaron Marsh. Paul Bradley (EastEnders) will take on the role of Reverand Rushton, BAFTA TV award nominee Jane Lapotaire (The Crown, Marie Curie) will play Joan Hartman, Jack Roth (Bohemian Rhapsody) as Jacob, Mollie Holder (Sanditon) stars as Merry Lane, Safia Oakley-Green (The Origin, Sherwood) as Joy Harris, Beth Cordingly (Learning to Walk Again) joins as Emma Harper and John Macmillan (House of Dragon) will play Mike Sudduth. Other roles will be played by Guy Henry, Catherine Harvey, Shakira Newton, Lloyd Notice, Charlie Hamblett, Erin Ainsworth, Liam Hatch, Paul Fox and Valerie Murray.