The Pursuit of Love: Who is in the cast of new BBC drama and when is it on?

The first episode of the BBC’s new romantic adventure, The Pursuit Of Love, is set to hit our screens

It airs at 9:00pm tonight.

Written by Emily Mortimer, it is a three-part adaptation of Nancy Mitford’s novel, first published in 1945.

It boasts an all-star cast, and is set to bring a taste of the 1920s and 1930s roaring on to our screens.

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Emily Beecham  and Lily James star in The Pursuit of Love (Pic: Robert Viglasky)Emily Beecham  and Lily James star in The Pursuit of Love (Pic: Robert Viglasky)
Emily Beecham and Lily James star in The Pursuit of Love (Pic: Robert Viglasky)

The three-part series is set in Europe between the First and Second World Wars, and follows the romantic adventures of Linda Radlett, played by Lily James, who starred in Downton Abbey.

Together with her cousin, Fanny, played by Emily Beecham, they yearn for life to begin so they can escape the confines of their home.

The cast also includes Dominic West who made his name in police drama The Wire, who plays Linda’s uncle; and Andrew Scott, forever known as the ‘hot priest’ from hit series Fleabag.

In Pursuit of Love, he plays Lord Merlin whose glamorous ball changes their young lives.

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The Pursuit of Love (Pic  Robert Viglasky)The Pursuit of Love (Pic  Robert Viglasky)
The Pursuit of Love (Pic Robert Viglasky)

The production aimed for a modern feel and uses contemporary music across the episodes.

Speaking during an online event as part of the BFI & Radio Times TV Festival, Mortimer discussed how she settled on the tone.

She said: "I just don't want to let this book down. And God knows, if Nancy Mitford saw it she would probably just be turning in her grave. I don't know.

"But I did feel that at least I wanted to feel the excitement and the danger and the longing and the irreverence I feel when I am reading the book, when I am watching the show.

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"I was trying all of the ways of communicating that visually. I was trying to think of films that I have loved that were maybe set in another time but didn't feel like they were about people in a bygone era in dusty costumes, and felt like they were about you as you were watching it."

The Pursuit Of Love airs on BBC One and BBC iPlayer tonight at 9:00pm.

All three episodes will then be available to watch as a boxset on BBC iPlayer.

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