Michaela Coel announces 'very personal' new TV show

Michaela Coel is returning to TV with a brand new series four years after unleashing I May Destroy You.

The acclaimed actress and screenwriter won applause and a string of awards for her 2020 gritty comedy-drama, but left fans desperate to know what she would write next after the series concluded.

Now the 36-year-old star has announced she will play the lead role of Henri in a new BBC and HBO drama titled First Day on Earth which she is writing - with production companies Various Artists Limited and A24 also involved.

"I am delighted to be working with VAL, HBO and the BBC again, and to partner with A24; thanks to all of their combined taste, care and expertise, I feel our show is in great hands," she said in a statement.

"First Day on Earth is another very personal story for me which I hope will engage viewers from all over the world, and I can't wait for audiences to go on Henri's journey with her," the star added.

A synopsis reads, "British novelist Henri is stuck. Work has dried up, her relationship is going nowhere. So when she's offered a job on a film in Ghana, West Africa - her parents' homeland, where her estranged father lives - she can't resist the chance to reconnect with him and the country of her heritage.

"But when she arrives, neither the job nor her father turn out the way she expected, and soon Henri has to deal with danger and hypocrisy, form new friendships, lose her illusions, and create a new sense of identity - one that might leave her stronger, but could also break her."

Filming for the project is expected to begin in 2025.