by Helen Langdon
The newest film-to-TV adaptation, Fargo, will be airing on Channel 4 in the UK, it has just been announced. The ten-episode run will be shown on the cable channel FX in the US, and will start airing on April 15th, with the UK showing it later in the month.
The newest film-to-TV adaptation, Fargo, will be airing on Channel 4 in the UK, it has just been announced. The ten-episode run will be shown on the cable channel FX in the US, and will start airing on April 15th, with the UK showing it later in the month.
Fargo is based on the award-winning Coen Brothers 1996 film, which starred Frances McDormand and William H Macy. But rather than being a straight adaptation of the film, Fargo the TV series is instead inspired by it. Martin Freeman, one of the show’s stars, had this to say about it: “[Fargo is] kind of in the same universe without being literally the same story, with echoes of the film that we know and many people love, me included.”
Although the series promises to contain much of the same bleak landscape and humour that made the film such a success, here the tale is of a manipulative drifter, Lorne Malvo (Billy Bob Thornton), who preys on the folk of a small town in Minnesota, including Freeman’s insurance salesman Lester Nygaard.
Although the series promises to contain much of the same bleak landscape and humour that made the film such a success, here the tale is of a manipulative drifter, Lorne Malvo (Billy Bob Thornton), who preys on the folk of a small town in Minnesota, including Freeman’s insurance salesman Lester Nygaard.
Other actors in the series include Colin Hanks as Police Deputy Gus Grimly, a “single father who must choose between his own personal safety and his duty as a policeman when he comes face-to-face with a killer”, Breaking Bad’s Bob Odenkirk as Bill Olson, a more senior police deputy, and Oliver Platt as Stavros Milos, the “supermarket king of Minnesota”. Comedy duo Key and Peele have also been announced as staring in a four-episode arc, as FBI agents obsessed with finding Malvo.
The series is being penned by Noah Hawley, who has previously worked on Bones. Executive producers include the Coen Brothers. Commenting on the series, Jay Hunt, Channel 4's chief creative officer, said: "Fargo is a perfect Channel 4 show – a dark comedy, beautifully directed with a stunning cast. We are excited to be bringing it to a British audience."
The series is being penned by Noah Hawley, who has previously worked on Bones. Executive producers include the Coen Brothers. Commenting on the series, Jay Hunt, Channel 4's chief creative officer, said: "Fargo is a perfect Channel 4 show – a dark comedy, beautifully directed with a stunning cast. We are excited to be bringing it to a British audience."
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