’A fractured family drama’ sees Bill Nighy and Helena Bonham Carter couple up in the BBC’s California Avenue

Gareth Cattermole

If you’ve ever played the ‘who would be your dream mum and dad?’ game, we’re pretty sure that the duo of Bill Nighy and Helena Bonham Carter might rate pretty highly. And the two acting legends are set to unite as parents for the first time in the new, 1970s-set BBC drama, California Avenue.

Described as a ‘fractured family drama’, the six-part series – written and directed by The Honourable Woman’s Hugo Blick – will also star Adolescence’s Erin Doherty as Bill and Helena’s on-screen daughter, Lela, who arrives at a caravan park with her young daughter, on the run from a dire situation.

While the series is due to film in the summer of 2025 in and around Hertfordshire, in the meantime, here’s everything we know about what looks set to be a flagship BBC drama next year, including plot, cast and potential release date.

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What is California Avenue about?

California Avenue is a story ‘brimming with humour and love’ and will be an intriguing watch, with the charmingly quaint backdrop of rural England in the 1970s. The show is set within a canal-side caravan park ‘deep in the luscious English countryside’, but this peace is disrupted when a woman called Lela (Erin Doherty) turns up with her 11-year-old daughter. The pair are on the run from something – or someone – and are seeking refuge in the caravan park.

Over the course of the six-part series, a ‘fractured family’ will come together, and while ‘ghosts and demons will be put to rest’, viewers will also see ‘an unexpected love’ forged among the characters.

It’s from the makers of One Day and Doctor Foster, so it’s highly likely that California Avenue will be another show that can be added to the production company’s roster of prestige TV. Executive producer Greg Brenman says: ‘In California Avenue, Hugo has conjured a world of precious relationships and unexpected revelations, all delivered with a big, big heart and generous humour.’ Meanwhile, Lindsay Salt, director of BBC drama, promises that ‘viewers will be taken on the journey of a lifetime to 1970s California Avenue’.

Who is starring in the cast of California Avenue?

As well as ​​Bill Nighy and Helena Bonham Carter starring as Jerry and Eddie, Lela’s parents, and Erin Doherty playing Lela, Strike star Tom Burke will play ‘showman outcast’ Cooper. Further actors – and their parts – are expected to be announced in due course.

Interestingly, it’s not the first time that Helena and Erin have shared the screen. Fans might remember that they both appeared together as royalty, Helena as Princess Margaret, Erin as Princess Anne, in Netflix’s The Crown.

​​Bill Nighy and Helena Bonham Carter will also be on board the show as executive producers.

How can I watch California Avenue?

The BBC have announced that filming has begun on California Avenue, but haven’t given an exact broadcast date yet, though it’s likely to be in 2026. As soon as we have more news, we’ll share it here.