First Look Images of Emily Blunt, Chaske Spencer in BBC, Prime Video Western ‘The English’

K.J. Yossman

The BBC and Amazon Prime Video have released first-look images of Emily Blunt and Chaske Spencer in upcoming period drama “The English.”

Written and directed by Hugo Blick (“The Honourable Woman”), “The English” is a Western set in 1890s America where an aristocratic Englishwoman called Lady Cornelia Locke (played by Blunt) and Pawnee ex-cavalry scout Eli Whipp (played by Spencer) join forces “to cross a violent landscape built on dreams and blood,” according to the logline.

. - Credit: Courtesy of BBC
. - Credit: Courtesy of BBC

Courtesy of BBC

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“Both of them have a clear sense of their destiny but neither is aware that it is rooted in a shared past,” the synopsis continues. “They must face increasingly terrifying obstacles that will test them to their cores, physically and psychologically. But as each obstacle is overcome it draws them closer to their ultimate destination, the new town of Hoxem, Wyoming.”

Joining Blunt and Spencer are Stephen Rea (“The Shadow Line”) as local sheriff Robert Marshall and Valerie Pachner (“The Kingsman”) as young widow Martha Myers, a duo who investigate a series of horrifying cold case murders that shed light on Locke and Whipp’s shared history.

Rafe Spall (“The Salisbury Poisonings”), Tom Hughes (“A Discovery Of Witches”), Toby Jones (“Marvellous”) and Ciarán Hinds (“The Woman In Black”) round out the cast.

The series promises to explore themes of identity, revenge, race love and power.

. - Credit: Courtesy of BBC
. - Credit: Courtesy of BBC

Courtesy of BBC

Wolf Gait Productions Ltd, a joint ventured between Mediawan-owned Drama Republic (“Doctor Foster”) and Eight Rooks Ltd, are producing in association with All3Media International.

Blick will executive produce alongside Blunt, Greg Brenman (“Peaky Blinders”) and Mona Qureshi for the BBC. Colin Wratten (“Killing Eve”) produces.

BBC chief content officer Charlotte Moore and former director of BBC drama commissioning Piers Wenger commissioned the series for the BBC. Amazon Studios and BBC are co-producing the show while All3 Media International are handling international sales.

“The English” is set to premiere in November on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer in the U.K. and Prime Video in the U.S., Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

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