When is Eva Green’s new mini-series ‘The Luminaries’ airing?

The BBC has announced when The Luminaries will begin in the UK.

A 19th century tale of adventure and mystery, the upcoming period drama is adapted by novelist Eleanor Catton from her award-winning novel.

The Luminaries is set on the Wild West Coast of New Zealand’s South Island during the 1860s gold rush.

French actress Eva Green, best know for her roles in Penny Dreadful and Casino Royale, leads the cast.

Green is joined by Eve Hewson (Robin Hood, Bridge of Spies), Marton Csokas (Lord of the Rings), Himesh Patel (EastEnders), Benedict Hardie (Hacksaw Ridge), Yoson An (Mulan), and Ewen Leslie (Top of the Lake).

The Luminaries launched last month in New Zealand on TVNZ 1.

The first of six episodes will air in the UK on BBC One at 9pm on Sunday 21st June, with the second episode airing the following night at 9pm on Monday 22nd June.

The remaining episodes will be shown on Sunday nights.

UK viewers can catch up on demand using BBC iPlayer.

A broadcaster in the US hasn’t yet been announced.

The Luminaries unfolds in two storylines.

The first begins in 1866, with a mystery: a politician, Alastair Lauderback (Benedict Hardie), arrives at a cottage to find a woman, unconscious with opium; a Māori man, also unconscious; and a corpse. Lauderback brings the woman to town, where she is arrested for public intoxication and held at the jail.

The second storyline takes us back nine months earlier to 1865, beginning on the day of Anna Wetherell’s (Eve Hewson) arrival in New Zealand. She is fresh-faced and full of promise. After a romantic first encounter, she agrees to meet with fellow passenger, Emery Staines (Himesh Patel), but the scheming fortune-teller Lydia Wells (Eva Green) has other designs. Anna is taken under Lydia’s wing, and Emery under the wing of former convict, Francis Carver (Marton Csokas).

In 1866 the corpse is brought back from the cottage and identified, and the town jailer, George Shepard (Callan Mulvey), mounts a murder investigation.

Back in 1865, Emery and Carver are interrupted by a man shouting in Cantonese, who then tries to kill Carver. Lydia’s husband, Crosbie Wells (Ewen Leslie), returns home from the goldfield with a change in fortune.

Eleanor Catton’s novel is available on Amazon.