Downton Abbey and Baby Reindeer favourites confirmed for new Netflix TV thriller based on '80s survival novel

Netflix has confirmed the lead cast for Feral, a new seven-episode drama adapting Shirley Conran's best-selling 1980s survival novel Savages, with Downton Abbey's Michelle Dockery and Baby Reindeer breakout Jessica Gunning among the names attached.

Dockery – who has also starred in Netflix western Godless, Anatomy of a Scandal and BBC's This Town – will play Julia, while Gunning, the Emmy and BAFTA-winning star of Baby Reindeer, takes the role of Annie.

They are joined by Genevieve O'Reilly, familiar to Star Wars fans as Mon Mothma in Andor, as Silvana, and Prime Target and Black Adam actor Quintessa Swindell as Suzy. Dolly de Leon, the Triangle of Sadness star, has also been cast as Elena.

The series comes from writer and executive producer Jude Mack, with Emma Freeman directing and is based on Conran's 1987 novel Savages. Conran was one of the biggest-selling authors of her era, best known for her 1982 blockbuster Lace, and Savages continued her focus on wealthy women pushed to their limits.

In terms of Feral, the upcoming drama follows a group of very different women thrown together in extreme circumstances. According to the official synopsis, the series is "a thrilling, darkly funny story of adventure and survival".

It continues: "Four very different women accompany their mining executive husbands on a corporate holiday to a beautiful but lethal tropical island. When the men's shady deals land them all in danger, the women must learn to survive the jungle, and each other. Can they put aside their differences, self-doubts and vanities to stay alive?"

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Mack said she was thrilled to be adapting the book. "Feral is a wild, messy journey of self-discovery and it's a complete dream to be carrying Shirley Conran's torch alongside Hera and Netflix," she said. "I can't wait for people to meet these funny, brutal, bold women. I'm obsessed with them and hope audiences will be too."

Hera Pictures founder and executive producer, Liza Marshall, added: "The extraordinary female characters at the heart of the show will be pushed to extremes, behave deliciously badly and have a whole lot of fun along the way.

"Emma Freeman is the perfect director to take us on the ride, and Netflix have wholeheartedly embraced the scale and ambition of the show."

The series will consist of seven hour-long episodes, and while a release date has not yet been announced, filming is due to kick off in Australia this year.

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Authors

Morgan Cormack is a Drama Writer for Radio Times, covering everything drama-related on TV and streaming. She previously worked at Stylist as an Entertainment Writer. Alongside her past work in content marketing and as a freelancer, she possesses a BA in English Literature.