‘The Cadburys’: BritBox Unveils Cast for Six-Part Drama on British Chocolate Empire

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BritBox has confirmed its lead cast for the upcoming six-part drama The Cadburys, inspired by Deborah Cadbury’s book, Chocolate Wars.

The series will be led by Harry Gilby (Boarders) as George Cadbury, Toby Regbo (Outrageous) as Richard Cadbury, Jessica Barden (Dune: Prophecy) as Maria Cadbury, Pearce Quigley (The Gentlemen) as John Cadbury, Ben Hardy (The Conjuring: Last Rites) as Francis Fry, Joanna Scanlan (Riot Women) and Poppy Gilbert (The Other Bennett Sister) as Elizabeth Adlington.

Production is underway in Birmingham, with Charlie and the Chocolate Factory star Freddie Highmore on board as an executive producer.

The Cadburys — previously announced under the working title of Chocolate Wars — is described as a warm-hearted family drama following the visionary Cadbury family, the underdogs of the cocoa world, on their journey towards creating their world-famous chocolate bar.

In 1860s Birmingham — when chocolate as we know it didn’t yet exist — two very different brothers, Richard (Regbo) and George (Gilby), find themselves in charge of their family’s failing cocoa business. “Together, they have the radical genius and burning ambition to turn Cadbury’s into one of the world’s most beloved confectioners — if they can only learn to trust and rely on each other,” reads a plot synopsis. “Their sister Maria (Barden) is navigating her own role within the family and the business, but things become even more complicated when she falls in love with Cadbury’s biggest rival, Francis Fry (Hardy) and is forced to question where her true loyalties really lie. Infused with historical delights and magical invention, The Cadburys is about how we build, break and rebuild the bonds of family … and how the sweetest things in life are rarely simple.”

Additional cast include Felicity Montagu, Mathew Baynton, Adam Hashmi, William Singh, Oli Green and Alexander Butler. The series also introduces Leah Swain-Heath, Maisie Britton, and Emma Montrochet.

The Cadburys is a commission with UKTV and Sony Pictures Television. The series is produced by Fable Pictures, in association with Alfresco Pictures, and written by Chloë Mi Lin Ewart (Beyond Paradise), alongside Hedderwick Turner and Karim Khan.

The show is executive produced by Faye Ward, Freddie Highmore, Hannah Price and Claire Londy with Helen Perry for UKTV and Jess O’Riordan and Jon Farrar for BritBox. The series will be directed by Tom McKay (After the Flood) with Hannah Farrell, co-creative director from Fable Pictures, as series producer and Jo Farrugia as casting director.

Sony Pictures Television will handle worldwide sales as international distributor, with Creative U.K. providing regional support through the ERDF funded West Midlands Production Fund.