Tom Bateman Leads Inbetweeners Adaptation as The Woods Starts UK Production
Tom Bateman leads the inbetweeners adaptation of The Woods now in production in the UK, putting Harlan Coben’s 2007 thriller back into active development. Netflix has not yet set a release date, but the move turns a long-running page-to-screen property into a current production with Michelle Keegan attached.
Bateman as Paul Copeland
Bateman plays Paul Copeland, a barrister and single father to 10-year-old Cami. He said: "I play Paul Copeland, a man haunted by the guilt of his sister’s disappearance when they were kids. Despite having lost almost everything, he continues to fight for what’s right as a barrister and be the best father for his daughter, who he raises on his own."
That setup gives the series a clean central engine: a legal professional pulled back into a family case he never escaped. The character’s private loss is not separate from the job; it shapes the role he is playing inside the story.
Michelle Keegan as Lucy
Keegan plays Lucy Silverfield, who reconnects with Paul as the search for answers begins. She said: "Lucy is a totally different character to Maya [Michelle's character in Fool Me Once]" and added: "She’s a little damaged and never found true peace. She believed that by moving away and having a successful career, she could escape the past, but somehow it never leaves her."
Lucy’s return matters because the series is built around a reunion, not just a disappearance. Paul and Lucy are drawn together again as the trail points to cover-ups and family secrets, which gives the adaptation a second lead with her own stakes instead of a simple support role.
2007 Novel, 2020 Series
The Woods is based on Coben’s 2007 novel, one he called "one of my most personal novels." The book centers on a disappearance from a summer camp in the woods 20 years earlier, when Paul’s sister Camille vanished and a body that surfaced two decades later makes him think she may have survived.
The property has already moved through one television life. Netflix adapted The Woods into a Polish series in 2020, and this UK production shows the company is still willing to mine the same title when the format and market support it. For viewers, that means the story is not being tested on the page alone; it is being recast for a second screen market with a different lead pair and a new production base.
UK Production, No Date
The missing piece is timing. Netflix has not yet set a release date, so the current signal is development momentum rather than a marketing rollout. For now, the practical takeaway is simple: The Woods has moved from adaptation concept to active production in the UK, with Bateman and Keegan carrying a story built around a disappearance, a reunion, and the kind of family damage Coben keeps returning to.
