New BBC drama Two Weeks in August follows a group of friends who reunite on a holiday to Greece, but an illicit kiss quickly turns the dream vacation into a nightmare.
The eight-part series comes from writer Catherine Shepherd, who spoke with Radio Times exclusively, and told us that she was inspired by her own experiences of Greek holidays.
"I wanted to write something about a group holiday, and a group holiday in Greece, specifically," Shepherd said. "I was inspired by real life, many, many group holidays, some really good, as well as some bad. I used to go to Greece a lot as a child and into my 20s, with my parents and my siblings, and one event really stayed with me.
"We were in Corfu at the end of a really nice day. We could see Albania across the water and we saw gunfire - people were shooting at each other.
"It was really far away, so we weren’t in danger, but it struck me as the blackest of comedy that we continued to have dinner while that was going on, and emblematic of what it's like to be alive at the moment – trying to have a good time while bad things are going on.
"And clinging on to this idea that you can have and deserve time away and to not have to think about real things, which I think is really interesting. It's really true. When I was thinking about the project I was planning a holiday in Greece and I went on to some of the message boards for Greece.
"And again, they are the most sort of comi-tragic things, because they're people saying, ‘How bad is the political situation in this island? And while it's kind of awful to ask these questions, it's also truthful. You don't want your two weeks spoiled by real things."
Shepherd revealed that she had, at one time, thought the concept would work for a film, but she was later encouraged to write it as a project for TV.
"It was a long process," she said. "The scripts were challenging. There were so many characters and all of their stories intersect, so I set myself a challenge. Getting it set up was complicated.
"It took several years to come to fruition, and by the time we ended up in Malta, we couldn't make it work to shoot it in Greece, so we shot it in Malta for Greece, which actually works really, really well."
The series stars Jessica Raine as Zoe, a woman who goes on holiday with her family and university friends to rediscover joy in her life. However, after the illicit kiss takes place she begins to act on her deepest desires, and with Greek myths on her mind, the question opens up as to whether bigger forces are at play.
Damien Molony plays her husband, Dan, while other stars include Antonia Thomas as Jess, Nicholas Pinnock as Solomon, Leila Farzad as Nat and Hugh Skinner as Jacob.
Speaking with Radio Times, Raine explained how she came to be involved with the project and why she was drawn to it.
"I had a meeting with Catherine and [director] Tom George," she said. "I walked into that room, and almost, to a certain degree, getting the job was neither here nor there – I just wanted to go and talk about the script.
"And we had this great discussion about everything that the script pulls out, which is a sign of an incredible piece of work.
"So I was really attracted to the tone of the piece, which is very unique. It's funny, but it's also incredibly sad. And then you've got the surreal quality of the Greek mythology. And it really wrong-foots you, you don't expect it. And I absolutely fell in love with Zoe. I really felt for her.
"I find it quite funny when you watch people trying to suppress their anxiety and pretend everything is fine when it clearly isn't, and watching a people pleaser finally stand up for herself, knowing what she was going to go to throughout the series, I was thrilled.
"I was absolutely thrilled when I got offered the job. It was a rare case of like, 'I have to do this.'"
Two Weeks in August will air on BBC One and BBC iPlayer from 9pm on Saturday 23 May 2026.
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