Stan and the BBC have announced production and casting for the new four-part Stan Original Series Lord of the Flies, currently filming in Malaysia and adapted from William Golding’s novel of the same name.
The series is expected to premiere on Stan in the back half of 2025 at the same time it screens on the BBC in the UK.
Nine chief executive Mike Sneesby recently told Mediaweek how Stan’s subscriber numbers climbed from 2.2m to 2.3m year-on-year.
Lord of the Flies is being adapted for television by the multi-BAFTA award-winning writer Jack Thorne (His Dark Materials, Help, National Treasure, Enola Holmes) and directed by Marc Munden (Help, The Sympathizer).
Academy Award-winning composer Hans Zimmer (Dune, Planet Earth, The Lion King) will co-create the series’ original score with multi-Emmy nominated Kara Talve (Stan Original Series The Tattooist of Auschwitz, Prehistoric Planet) for Bleeding Fingers Music.
A recent edition of the Lord of the Flies book
Lord of the Flies is produced by Eleven (Stan Original Series Ten Pound Poms, Sex Education) in a co-production with BBC. Sony Pictures Television will distribute the series internationally.
The casting process was led by multi-award-winning casting director Nina Gold (Game of Thrones, The Power of the Dog, Baby Reindeer), with many of the cast making their professional acting debuts.
An open casting call found many newcomers. David McKenna will play Piggy alongside Winston Sawyers as Ralph, Lox Pratt as Jack, Isaac Talbut as Simon, and Thomas Connor as Roger. Noah and Cassius Flemyng have been cast as the twins Sam and Eric, with Cornelius Brandreth as Maurice, and Tom Page-Turner as Bill, alongside an ensemble of more than 20 other boys playing the desert island camp’s “big ‘uns” and “little ‘uns”.
Lord of the Flies is the story of a group of young schoolchildren who find themselves stranded on a tropical island with no adults, following a deadly plane crash.
Jack Thorne’s adaptation will be the first for television. The series is being made with the support of Lord of the Flies author William Golding’s family.
Stan’s Cailah Scobie
Stan chief content officer Cailah Scobie said: “One of the biggest books of the 20th century, Lord of the Flies has captivated readers for generations, is loved by millions, and this landmark adaptation is guaranteed to compel Australian audiences. Our collaboration with the BBC and the award-winning team at Eleven features a dynamic young cast from top-tier creative talent, and we look forward to sharing this impactful Stan Original Series with our audiences soon.”
Lindsay Salt, director of BBC Drama, said: “We’re delighted to pass the conch to Jack Thorne, Marc Munden and this exceptionally talented young cast of stars in the making, who are telling this timeless story in such an epic and emotionally poignant way. Lord of the Flies is British storytelling at its finest and most thoughtful, and there is no better home for its first-ever television adaptation than on the BBC.”
Screenwriter and executive producer Jack Thorne said: “I still can’t believe we have been given the opportunity to film this beautiful book. The first few days shooting show that our cast is extraordinary and that Marc is finding a whole new visual language in capturing the wonders of them and the beauty of Malaysia. He is an incredible storyteller. It is all so exciting.”
Lord of the Flies production notes
The Stan Original Series Lord of the Flies is an Eleven and One Shoe Films production backed by Sony Pictures Television for BBC iPlayer, BBC One and Stan. The series is written by Jack Thorne, directed by Marc Munden, and produced by Callum Devrell-Cameron (Sex Education, Hanna). The executive producers are Joel Wilson and Jamie Campbell for Eleven, Jack Thorne for One Shoe Films, Marc Munden, Nawfal Faizullah for the BBC, and Cailah Scobie and Amanda Duthie for Stan.
The series is filming now in Malaysia, ahead of further filming later this year in the UK.