Sarah Lancashire to Star in Netflix's 'Witch Hunt' Thriller — SkimNews
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- Sarah Lancashire leads "Witch Hunt" as August Howell, a descendant of the "Witch of Cambridge" who comes home after 30 years in prison for drowning her three daughters, in a thriller written by Abi Morgan and produced by Sister.
- Witch Hunt centers on Professor Wren Howell, August's last surviving daughter, whom police recruit when her mother's return appears to spark a modern-day witch hunt in a university town.
- Abi Morgan returns to Netflix for the first time since her Benedict Cumberbatch-led limited series "Eric," also a Sister production.
- Lancashire, a multi-BAFTA winner for "Happy Valley," currently plays Reed in Netflix's hit "Black Doves," another Sister production, making Witch Hunt her second lead role on the streamer.
- Bob Mortimer and Richard Ayoade were revealed as hosts of "Hot or Cold," a Zeppotron-produced comedy where teams complete unknown challenges in a maze of rooms; both previously appeared on Prime Video's "Last One Laughing UK," which Mortimer won.
- Both series were unveiled at a Netflix UK Upfronts event in London, where Lancashire called Witch Hunt "a brilliantly imagined and utterly compelling story."
Why it matters: Netflix is deepening its UK original pipeline with two distinctly British commissions — a prestige thriller reuniting Lancashire with Abi Morgan through Sister (the producer behind Happy Valley, Black Doves, and Eric), and a comedy leveraging Mortimer and Ayoade's proven chemistry from Last One Laughing UK. For Lancashire, the deal hands her a second Netflix lead alongside Black Doves.
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