Shy & Lola first look reveals Squires and Powley in BBC’s darkly comic crime thriller
Shy & Lola reveals Squires and Powley in first-look pictures as eight more stars join the BBC’s darkly comic crime thriller ahead of 2027.
The BBC has released the first look at Hayley Squires and Bel Powley in its exciting new darkly comic thriller Shy & Lola, while revealing eight more names joining the cast ahead of the series arriving next year.
Hayley plays Shy, a cleaner scraping by and dreaming of leaving her life behind for a fresh start in Portugal. Bel stars as Lola, an ex-model turned grifter who arrives in town with trouble already at her heels.
The six-part drama brings the two very different women together when a murder leaves them caught up in the criminal underworld operating in Shy’s small coastal town in the North of England.
They begin as inexperienced outsiders who are exploited by the criminals around them, but it soon becomes clear that Shy and Lola have an unexpected talent for crime themselves. As the pair build their own operation and begin threatening the local bad guys, they face a choice between using their earnings to finally escape or attempting to become the new bosses in town.
The BBC’s newly released pictures give viewers their first proper look at Hayley and Bel in the title roles. Hayley is known for The Night Manager and I, Daniel Blake, while Bel’s previous credits include A Small Light and The Diary of a Teenage Girl.
They will be joined by Amber Grappy, Matthew McNulty, Elizabeth Berrington, Edward Bluemel, Jordan Bolger, Thomas Turgoose and Joseph Ayre. Melanie-Joyce Bermudez will make her on-screen debut in the series.
Shy & Lola is written by award-winning screenwriter and novelist Amanda Coe, whose previous work includes Apple Tree Yard and The Trial of Christine Keeler. Additional episodes have been written by Emilie Robson and Alys Metcalf, with Sam Donovan serving as lead director and Emily Atef directing the second block.
There is still a wait before Shy and Lola begin their unlikely move into the criminal world. The BBC has confirmed the six hour-long episodes will come to BBC iPlayer and BBC One in 2027, but it has not yet announced an exact release date.
Shy & Lola will be available on BBC iPlayer and BBC One in 2027. An exact release date has not yet been announced. Images: BBC/Kerry Spicer/Matt Towers/Harry Livingstone
