Starz will launch its Rebecca Hall-starring BBC drama ‘The Listeners‘ on June 12.
The series, which stars Hall (Resurrection, Christine) as a popular English teacher who suddenly begins to hear a persistent low hum that no-one else can hear, runs to five parts. You can see a trailer above.
The series comes from Fremantle’s Element Pictures, and was originally for the BBC in the UK. In the U.S., it will stream weekly opn Fridays on the Starz app and other Starz streaming platforms.
Per the synopsis, The Listeners: “Claire hears a sound that neither her husband nor her daughter can hear. This seemingly innocuous hum triggers migraines, nosebleeds and insomnia, with no obvious source or medical explanation. After weeks of suffering, the strain starts to fracture her relationships with family, friends and colleagues.
“When she discovers that a student of hers can also hear the hum, the two strike up an unlikely and intimate friendship that gradually transforms into something more extreme, with devastating consequences.”
Alongside Hall, The Listeners stars Prasanna Puwanarajah (The Crown, Payback”), Ollie West (The Sparrow), Mia Tharia (Phoenix Rise), Amr Waked (Lucy) and Gayle Rankin (The Greatest Showman, GLOW).
The Listeners is written by Jordan Tannahill, who wrote the novel on which the series is based, and directed by Janicza Bravo (Zola, The Bear). Both also serve as executive producers, alongside Ed Guiney, Andrew Lowe, Chelsea Morgan Hoffmann and Rachel Dargavel for Element Pictures, Rebecca Ferguson for the BBC and Alice Birch. Ed King is the producer and Fremantle handles global sales.
The Listeners aired on the BBC nearly 18 months ago, but the Starz deal – struck in January – is evidence that American buyers still want to keep their services populated with British content. The BBC and Starz have partnered in the past on dramas like The Missing and Dublin Murders.