Máiréad Tyers and Ellis Howard to lead Channel 4's The Rachel Incident

Filming has begun on Caroline O’Donoghue's adaptation of her bestselling novel.

As filming begins on Caroline O’Donoghue's adaptation of her bestselling novel The Rachel Incident, Channel 4 has announced that Máiréad Tyers will lead the eight-part drama as Rachel.

Set in Cork in 2010, Rachel is a student working at a bookstore when she meets James, and it is love at first sight. Effervescent and insistently heterosexual, James, played by Ellis Howard, soon invites Rachel to be his roommate, and the two begin a friendship that changes the course of both their lives forever.

Together, they run riot through the streets of Cork City, trying to cultivate a bohemian existence while the reality of the recent financial crash looms over them.

When Rachel admits to a huge crush on her married professor, Dr. Fred Byrne, played by Daniel Ings, James helps her devise a launch for his new book at the store, with the hope that she might seduce him afterwards… But Fred, as it turns out, has other desires.

So begins a series of secrets and compromises that intertwine the fates of James, Rachel, Fred, and Fred's wife Deenie, played by Saraha Greene, an incredibly cool and well-connected literary editor.

The Rachel Incident is aching with unrequited love, shot through with delicious, sparkling humour about friends, lovers, Ireland in chaos, and a young woman desperately trying to manage all three.

Also joining the cast are Cúán Hosty-Blaney as Carey, Ciarán Dowd as Ben, Helen Behan as Bridget, Ardal O’Hanlon as Paul, Jeanne Ní Áinle as Sabrina, Molly McFadden as Sinead and Maria Doyle Kennedy as Vivian.

On joining the cast, Máiréad Tyers said "I am so excited and grateful to be part of this project. I read the book when it first came out and fell in love with Caroline’s writing and this story - and with Channel 4, UCP, Element Pictures and PAGEBOY at the helm, Rachel and James’ story couldn’t be in safer hands."

To which Caroline O’Donoghue added "Máiréad Tyers is a star and has always been my first choice to play Rachel. She and the phenomenally charming Ellis Howard create what feels like an instantly iconic double act, fizzing with all the love and panic that makes being in your early twenties both nightmarish and amazing."

"To have the brilliant Sarah Greene and Daniel Ings as Deenie and Fred is a dream, and I'm gushing with enthusiasm for the rest of the cast who make the world of The Rachel Incident feel so alive and full of energy - including but not limited to Ardal O'Hanlon and Maria Doyle Kennedy, actors I grew up loving and still can't believe are joining our team."

"Collaborating with Giulia Gandini and Megan K. Fox and our entire crew has already been such a joy and I am once again grateful to the teams at Channel 4, UCP, Element Pictures and PAGEBOY for their continued support in building this show, which I can't wait to share with audiences."

Produced by UCP and Element Pictures, in association with PAGEBOY Productions, with support from Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland, The Rachel Incident is written, created and executive produced by Caroline O’Donoghue, produced by Emma Fleischer, directed by Giulia Gandini and Megan K Fox with Tuck Dowrey as Associate Producer.

The Rachel Incident will be executive produced by Ed Guiney, Andrew Lowe, Christopher Aird, Chelsea Morgan Hoffmann, Matt Jordan Smith, Elliot Page and Jen Statsky.

Speaking about today's casting news, Channel 4 Drama's Commissioning Editor, Rebecca Holdsworth, said "Channel 4 are thrilled to be part of bringing The Rachel Incident to life alongside our partners at UCP, Element Pictures and PAGEBOY. Caroline’s scripts, just like her novel, are a joy; funny, sharp, and full of heart."

"We’ve found our perfect Rachel in the brilliant Máiréad Tyers, and can’t wait to see her form an iconic and irresistible duo with talented co-star Ellis Howard as he takes up the part of James."

The Rachel Incident will air on Channel 4