Screen Actors Guild winner Idris Elba (Beasts of No Nation, Luther) and Oscar winner John Ridley (12 Years a Slave) are collaborating on a new limited series titled Guerrilla set up at Showtime and Sky Atlantic. The series will be written, directed, and executive produced by Ridley, with Elba co-starring and also executive producing. The original dramatic series will consist of six one-hour episodes and will shoot in London this summer.
“We’re excited to partner with our friends at Sky to bring a fascinating and unexplored story spearheaded by John and Idris, two major creative talents at the top of their game,” stated David Nevins, President and CEO, Showtime Networks Inc. “Guerilla will surely keep our audience at their edge of their seats.”
“It’s been a long time desire of mine to collaborate with Mr. Ridley and his work here is nothing short of a masterclass in character building and story-telling. TV is in for a treat,” said Elba.
Ridley added, “I am both humbled by and impressed with Idris’s passion toward bringing this story to life. I share his commitment for populating the culture with driven and complicated people of color, and believe we have great partners on the producorial level, and with our broadcasters Sky Atlantic and Showtime.”
The Plot: Guerrilla is a love story set against the backdrop of one of the most politically explosive times in U.K. history. It tells the story of a politically active couple whose relationship and values are tested when they liberate a political prisoner and form a radical underground cell in 1970s London. Their ultimate target becomes the Black Power Desk, a true-life, secretive counter-intelligence unit within Special Branch dedicated to crushing all forms of black activism. Whilst the series is set against a background of social and political activism, at its heart Guerrilla is about a relationship under pressure, and the reality that for any couple there comes a point when the choices they make have real and lasting consequences.
