The Luminaries cast: From Eva Green to Himesh Patel, meet the stars of the new BBC drama

The Luminaries, the BBC’s adaptation of Eleanor Catton’s Man Booker-prize winning 2013 novel, is set to premiere on Sunday night.

The rollicking historical tale takes place in colonial era New Zealand, and follows a cast of characters, each inspired by horoscopes and the movements of the sun, moon and planets.

The intricate web of characters is a lot to get your head around in the book, but with the narrative shuffled slightly for the TV adaptation, we’ll get a clearer picture of who’s who.

Let’s take a look at the various actors filling the planetary roles in The Luminaries…

Who's in the cast of The Luminaries?

Himesh Patel - Emery Staines

Patel, who recently starred in Richard Curtis and Danny Boyle’s musical rom-com Yesterday, stars as Emery Staines, a young prospector who arrives from England hoping to make his fortune by discovering some lucrative gold fields - but immediately becomes embroiled in a series of intrigues and plots.

You might also recognise Patel, who first found fame on EastEnders, from roles in blustery period drama The Aeronauts and in Armando Iannucci’s recent sci-fi comedy Avenue 5.

Eve Hewson - Anna Wetherell

Hewson has previously appeared in a big screen adaptation of Robin Hood (as Maid Marion, no less) and in Steven Spielberg’s Bridge of Spies. Up next is the lead role in Behind Her Eyes, a psychological thriller from Netflix. Oh, and she’s Bono’s daughter.

Her character travels to New Zealand on the same boat as Staines, and the pair quickly forge a romantic connection. When they make it to dry land, however, things become far more complex when Anna is taken under the dubious wing of Mrs Lydia Wells...

Eva Green - Lydia Wells

Green is best known for her memorable turn as Vesper Lynd in Daniel Craig’s first outing as James Bond, Casino Royale. The French star has also appeared in The Golden Compass, the ill-fated first film adaptation of Phillip Pullman’s Northern Lights, the recent live action version of Disney’s Dumbo and the period horror series Penny Dreadful.

She’ll be bringing Lydia Wells, a scheming fortune teller and brothel madam who takes a shine to Anna, to life on the small screen.

Marton Csokas - Francis Carver

The villainous Carver, the career criminal and all round bad guy who is Wells’ lover, is played by Csokas.

The star hails from New Zealand and starred as Celeborn in Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy opposite Cate Blanchett’s Galadriel. He’s also had roles in series like Into The Badlands, Rogue and Divorce.

Ewen Leslie - Crosbie Wells

UK viewers might remember Australian actor Leslie from his role in 2018 drama The Cry, appearing as Jenna Colman’s on-screen husband. He also starred in the first series of Jane Campion’s gripping drama Top of the Lake alongside Elisabeth Moss.

His character Wells is the estranged husband of Green’s Lydia, and is found dead in his cottage at the start of the drama’s events - surrounded by an extraordinary amount of gold.

Michael Sheasby - Walter Moody

Moody is the narrator of Catton’s award-winning novel - his chance meeting with the 12 men at the heart of the mystery prompts them to recount the events surrounding Staines’ disappearance and Wells’ death, bringing the reader up to speed. In the TV drama, however, Moody has a somewhat diminished role, appearing in just two out of the six episodes.

He is played by Sheasby, who previously appeared in Oscar-nominated film Hacksaw Ridge.

Erik Thomson - Dick Mannering

The wealthy goldfields magnate Mannering has his hand in plenty of businesses operating in the town of Hokitika - some of them salubrious, others less so.

Thomson is a celebrated screen and theatre actor working in Australia and New Zealand, who kicked off his TV career as Hades in Xena: Warrior Princess. His recent screen credits include Australian drama Storm Boy alongside Geoffrey Rush and Jai Courtney and the comedy-drama 800 Words.

The Luminaries airs on June 21 at 9pm on BBC One