Adapted by Fiona Seres (The Silence) from the novel The Wheel Spins – also filmed by Hitchcock as The Lady Vanishes – the 90-minute drama will star Keeley Hawes (Ashes To Ashes), Gemma Jones (Spooks), Stephanie Cole (Coronation Street) and Julian Rhind-Tutt (The Hour), alongside Selina Cadell (Toast), Tuppence Middleton (Spies of Warsaw), Jesper Christensen (Melancholia) and Tom Hughes (Silk).

Writer Fiona Seres commented: “I am very excited to have such a brilliant cast for The Lady Vanishes – not just the key characters played by Tuppence Middleton and Tom Hughes but also a dynamic supporting cast that includes Danish actors Benedikte Hansen and Jesper Christensen.”

Kate Harwood, Controller, Series and Serials, BBC Drama added: “Fiona’s adaptation of The Wheel Spins deftly weaves together the intriguing stories of a psychologically complex group of characters – with the mysterious disappearance of Miss Froy on a packed train – played out against the tense backdrop of the Balkans in the 1930s. I am delighted with the incredible cast and crew we have assembled for the project. The Lady Vanishes will be a thrilling treat for BBC One audiences this Christmas.”

The official synopsis reads: “It is 1931, beautiful and wealthy young socialite Iris Carr (Middleton) is the heart of her social circle. Whilst holidaying with her friends in the Balkans their raucous behaviour escalates and Iris resolves to seek out some tranquillity and travel home alone.

“Iris’s expectations of peace are short lived when she faints on the platform of the railway station in the scorching heat. She wakes in time to be rushed on to the train but with a pounding head and a feeling of being almost in a dream.

“Whilst in this malaise she is comforted by Miss Froy (Cadell), whose tweed suit and bookish looks belie a jovial and adventurous spirit. Miss Froy talks at length about her desperation to return home to her family; but when Iris falls asleep she awakes to find Miss Froy has vanished and her fellow passengers denying she ever existed….
With only the allegiance of handsome English traveller Max Hare (Hughes) for support, Iris maintains her conviction that Miss Froy has somehow been abducted.

“As fellow passengers refute Iris’s story her conviction appears increasingly to be madness. Iris will have to rely on a strength of character she never knew she had to battle doubt and overcome danger as she strives to solve the mystery of why the lady vanished.”

Directed by Diarmuid Lawrence (South Riding), The Lady Vanishes begins filming on location in Budapest this month.

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Watch the trailer for the final episode of Ashes to Ashes…