Romola Garai, Dominic West, Ben Whishaw to Star in BBC Two Drama The Hour

Romola Garai, Dominic West, and Ben Whishaw will star in a new BBC Two drama, The Hour. Playwright and screenwriter Abi Morgan has created the show.

The Hour, set in a 1950s news room, focusing on the launch of of a topical news show in London set against the backdrop of a mysterious murder. West will play the program’s upper-crust, charismatic front man, Whishaw will play an outspoken journalist, and Garai will play the show’s ambitious boss.

Garai’s stage credits include King Lear and The Seagull, which played in both the U.K. and New York, as well as The Three Sisters in the West End. Among her film credits are Atonement, The Other Man, and As You Like It.

West may be best known for his portrayal of James ‘Jimmy’ McNulty on The Wire. On stage he has been seen in Design for Living on Broadway and in Life Is a Dream and The Voysey Inheritance, among others, in the U.K. In addition, he will star, as previously reported, in a revival of Simon Gray’s Butley in the West End in June.

Whishaw recently starred Off-Broadway in Alexi Kaye Campbell’s The Pride. Among his film credits are Bright Star and Julie Taymor’s The Tempest.