BBC's 'Mayflies' releases pics of Martin Compston, Tony Curran and Ashley Jensen

Tony Curran and Martin Compston star in Mayflies. (BBC)
Tony Curran and Martin Compston star in Mayflies. (BBC)

First-look pictures for a new BBC drama series show Martin Compston, Tony Curran and Ashley Jensen taking on the lead roles in an adaptation of Mayflies.

The series, filmed in Scotland and with a Scottish cast, brings to life Andrew O'Hagan's acclaimed novel about a lifelong friendship and the lengths people will still go to for each other after many years apart.

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In the summer of 1986, Jimmy (Compston) and Tully (Curran) form an unbreakable friendship based on their shared love of music, films and their rebel spirit.

Mayflies
Tracy Ifeachor and Ashley Jensen also feature in the cast. (BBC)

On a pilgrimage weekend away to Manchester, the beating heart of everything they love, they make a pact to carve out different lives from their parents and everyone else they know.

But 30 years on, when Jimmy's phone rings, Tully has the worst kind of news and a request that will test their friendship to its limits.

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The first-look pictures show Compston and Curran as adult Jimmy and Tully, reconnecting as they get back in touch, as well as meeting Jensen's character Anna.

MayfliesThe young cast of Mayflies. (BBC)
The young cast of Mayflies. (BBC)

Other photos show more castings for the series, including Showtrial's Tracy Ifeachor as Iona who joins Jensen, Compston and Curran in one scene.

A throwback scene to Jimmy and Tully's youth includes Rian Gordon (Vigil) and Tom Glynn-Carney (Dunkirk) playing teenage versions of the friends.

The two-part drama, which filmed around Glasgow and Ayrshire, is due to air on BBC One later this year.

Compston, who recently hosted BBC travel series about Scotland Martin Compston's Scottish Fling, has hinted that his popular police procedural Line Of Duty may soon return to BBC One.

Fans have been clamouring for a seventh series since the end of series six, but Compston, his co-stars Adrian Dunbar and Vicky McClure, and show creator Jed Mercurio have all now suggested new episodes could be on the cards, posting photos of the group together on social media.