The Castaways (2023 TV series)

The Castaways is a television series made for Paramount+ adapted from the book of the same name by Lucy Clarke. The series stars Sheridan Smith and Céline Buckens as sisters.

The Castaways
Created by	Ben Harris
Based on	The Castaways by Lucy Clarke
Written by	Ben Harris Polly Buckle Jesse O’Mahoney
Directed by	Andy Tohill Ryan Tohill
Starring	Sheridan Smith Céline Buckens
Original language	English
No. of series	1
No. of episodes	5
Production
Executive producers	Mike Benson Ben Harris Giuliano Papadia Chiara Cardoso
Producer	Myf Hopkins
Cinematography	Tom Pridham
Editors	Barry Moen John Philipson
Production companies	Clapperboard Studios Blackbox Multimedia
Original release
Network	Paramount+
Release	26 December 2023 (2023-12-26)

Synopsis

After her sister Lori goes missing whilst travelling abroad, Erin travels to Fiji to investigate the use of her missing sister's credit card on a remote Pacific island.^[1]

Cast

• Sheridan Smith as Lori Holme
• Céline Buckens as Erin Holme
• Brendan Cowell as Mike Brasse
• Dominic Tighe as Daniel Elridge
• Lasarus Ratuere as Felix Vatubua
• Charlotte Vega as Amber
• Celeste Dodwell as Natasha

Production

Clapperboard Studios and Blackbox Multimedia produced the series. Mike Benson, Ben Harris, Giuliano Papadia and Chiara Cardoso are executive producers with Harris adapting the book as lead writer. Other writers include Polly Buckle and Jesse O’Mahoney. Myf Hopkins served as the series producer. Andy Tohill and Ryan Tohill directed episodes.^[2]

Filming

Location took place in Fiji and Greece, beginning in June 2023.^[3][4]

Broadcast

The series aired on subscription channel Paramount+ in the United Kingdom on 26 December 2023, with all episodes made available immediately.^[5][6] It was broadcast in the UK on free-to-air terrestrial television Channel 5 nightly between 26 and 30 January 2025, and made available to stream on My5 for one month afterwards.^[7]

Reception

The Guardian described The Castaways as: "A darkly plotted and sunnily staged piece of escapism.",^[8] and Digital Spy said that "you'll have a right rollicking good time while you're in the thick of it."^[9]