Sarah Lancashire will lead Witch Hunt for Netflix after the project was unveiled at the Netflix UK Upfronts in London. The dark thriller puts her at the center of a modern-day witch hunt, and it arrives as part of a broader UK commissions push.
Lancashire plays August Howell, a descendant of the Witch of Cambridge who was released after 30 years in prison for drowning her three young daughters. She said, “There’s so much to explore in August, and I can’t wait to begin.”
August Howell and Professor Wren Howell
The setup gives the series a sharp practical hook. August comes home to a community that does not want her back, while the police turn to her last surviving daughter, Professor Wren Howell, when concern grows that her return may have triggered a modern-day witch hunt in the university town. That conflict gives the drama two pressures at once: a public reckoning over August’s past and a search for the killer.
Sarah Lancashire already has a Netflix footprint through Reed in Black Doves, and she remains closely identified with Happy Valley. Abi Morgan is also part of the project, adding another experienced UK drama voice to a title Netflix is using to deepen its British slate.
Hot or Cold joins the slate
Netflix did not stop at Witch Hunt. At the same event, it announced Hot or Cold, a comedy entertainment series featuring Bob Mortimer and Richard Ayoade and produced by Zeppotron.
Chris Cohen said, “I’ve spent my entire career in telly walking into rooms and having no idea what’s going on, so it’s a delight to work with Netflix and finally make a show with that exact premise. We are thrilled to have two of Britain’s best in Bob and Richard at the heart of it all.”
The format is built around teams moving through a labyrinth of rooms, each with a challenge that must be completed as quickly as possible, without being told what the challenge is or how to solve it. Mortimer arrives with a recent competitive credit too: he won the first series of Prime Video’s Last One Laughing UK.
What matters now is sequencing. Netflix has put a dark serialized drama and a comedy format into the same UK commissions announcement, and Witch Hunt is the cleaner prestige play. The unanswered part is the one viewers will care about next: when Netflix will move the series from announcement to production and release.
