E4 has announced the commission of Kiss Me First, an “innovative and emotional thriller” written by Skins creator Bryan Elsley.

An adaptation of Lottie Moggach’s best-selling young adult novel of the same name, the six 60-minute episodes will premiere on E4 in the UK and on Netflix in the rest of the world.

The official synopsis reads: “Kiss Me First tells the story of Leila, a lonely 17 year old girl who is addicted to a fictional online gaming site called Agora. While in Agora, Leila meets Tess, a cool and confident party girl who harbours a dark secret. In the real world, the two girls become friends, but after Tess disappears Leila decides to assume her friend’s identity and in doing so is quickly drawn into unravelling the mystery behind her disappearance.”

The new drama aim to “provide a platform for exploring the loneliness and isolation experienced by young people and the disparity between appearance and reality in the social media age.”

Kiss Me First will combine live action with computer-generated virtual world sequences to create the parallel worlds of Leila and Tess’ real life and that of their online alteregos ‘Shadowfax’ and ‘Mania’ in the virtual world of Agora.

Writer Bryan Elsley teased: “We hope to thrill and mystify our audience on a headlong ride through emotions, intrigue and virtual reality.”

Piers Wenger, Head of Drama at Channel 4, commented: “This is a thrilling and truly ground-breaking series which takes an emotional look at the lives of a group of young gamers and the truth which exists behind their online life. We are thrilled to be welcoming Bryan Elsley back to E4 to lead a group of new writers and to helm this exciting new show.”

> Buy the original book on Amazon.

Kiss Me First will begin filming later this year.

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