Start date confirmed for ‘Downton’ star’s 1920s drama ‘The Pursuit of Love’

It’s been announced when The Pursuit of Love will premiere in the UK.

Based on Nancy Mitford’s classic 1945 novel, the mini-series is described as a romantic comedy-drama about love and friendship.

The Pursuit of Love is the first in Mitford’s comedic trilogy of books about an upper-class English family between the First and Second World Wars.

Following delays due to the coronavirus pandemic, the three-part drama finally began shooting last summer around Bristol and Bath in south-west England.

English actress and screenwriter Emily Mortimer (Hugo, Mary Poppins Returns) has written the adaptation.

Mortimer previously commented: “It’s an outrageously funny and honest story, whose central character – the wild, love-addicted Linda Radlett – still reads as a radical.”

Playing Linda Radlett is Lily James, best known for her roles in Downton Abbey and War & Peace.

Over the past year she’s had success with not one but two hit period drama movies for Netflix; Rebecca and The Dig.

The cast also includes Emily Beecham (Cruella) as Fanny Logan, alongside Dominic West (Les Misérables) and Dolly Wells (Dracula) as Linda’s parents, Uncle Matthew and Aunt Sadie Radlett.

Emily Mortimer (The Sense of an Ending) plays Fanny’s mother, The Bolter.

Sherlock star Andrew Scott plays Lord Merlin, the Radlett’s wealthy and eccentric neighbour.

The official synopsis reads: “Set in Europe between the two World Wars, the story follows the adventures and misadventures of the charismatic and fearless Linda Radlett (Lily James) and her best friend and cousin Fanny Logan.

“Consumed by a desire for love and marriage, the two women are on the hunt for the ideal husband. Their friendship is put to the test as Fanny settles for a steady life and Linda decides to follow her heart, to increasingly wild and outrageous places.

“As social and political divisions split the nation, their diverging choices raise personal questions that remain intensely relevant today – questions about freedom, about love and sex, and the mystery of the human heart.”

The Pursuit of Love will premiere on BBC One in the UK at 9pm on Sunday 9th May.

All three episodes will then be immediately available to watch on BBC iPlayer.

The Pursuit of Love will be released worldwide on Amazon Prime Video later this year.

A second Downton Abbey movie began filming recently.

While Lily James didn’t appear as Lady Rose in the first Downton movie in 2019, she’s rumoured to return in the sequel!

Nancy Mitford’s original novel is available on Amazon.