Michaela Coel announces First Day On Earth, her first TV show for four years

Writer and actress Michaela Coel has announced her first TV drama since 2020’s award-winning I May Destroy You.

Coel will write, star in and executive produce First Day On Earth, a 10-part series for the BBC, which will begin filming next year.

It will follow British novelist Henri, played by Coel, who moves to Ghana to reconnect with her estranged father.

Succession creator Jesse Armstrong will serve as one of the executive producers on the show.

Coel said: “The process of creating FDOE thus far has been a beautifully intimate experience, and I am excited to embark on the next phase to eventually offer this as another televisual gift for anyone willing to accompany Henri on what will be a wild odyssey!”

Coel, 36, shot to fame with her Channel 4 comedy Chewing Gum, which was based on her 2012 play of the same name.

The TV series, which aired three years later, earned Coel two Bafta TV Awards for best breakthrough talent and best female comedy performance.

Her next series, I May Destroy You was even more successful, winning a plethora of awards including an Emmy and five Baftas.

She has previously spoken about rejecting $1m (£730,000) from Netflix for the series because the BBC offered her more creative control.

Since then, she has appeared in Marvel’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and Amazon TV series Mr & Mrs Smith.

US network HBO will co-produce First Day On Earth, which will be made by production company Various Artists Limited in association with film studio A24.