Michael Gambon (Harry Potter) and Keeley Hawes (Line of Duty) will lead the cast of The Casual Vacancy, BBC One’s upcoming mini-series based on JK Rowling’s novel.

Other confirmed cast members includes Rory Kinnear, Monica Dolan, Julia McKenzie and Abigail Lawrie.

Gambon will play Howard Mollison, owner of the Pagford delicatessen, with Julia McKenzie (Shirley Valentine) playing his wife Shirley. Howard’s son Miles will be played by Rufus Jones (W1A) with his wife Samantha Mollison played by Keeley Hawes.

Rory Kinnear (Penny Dreadful) will play Barry Fairbrother, Keeley Forsyth (Emmerdale) is playing Terri Weedon, and newcomer Abigail Lawrie has been cast as her daughter Krystal Weedon.

Made in association with HBO and adapated by by Sarah Phelps (The Crimson Field), the three-part mini-series begins filming on 7 July in South West England.

The Casual Vacancy centres on Pagford, a seemingly idyllic English village with a cobbled market square and ancient abbey. Behind the pretty façade, however, is a town at war: rich at war with poor, teenagers at war with their parents, wives at war with their husbands, teachers at war with their pupils.

Are you looking forward to The Casual Vacancy? Let us know below…