Life After Life

In BBC Two's Life After Life, Last Night in Soho star Thomasin McKenzie plays the lead role of Ursula, a young woman stuck in a time loop.

Where have I seen Sian Clifford before? For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to the Radio Times podcast with Jane Garvey. Where have I seen Patsy Ferran before? Where have I seen James McArdle before? Where have I seen Thomasin McKenzie before? "I didn’t take into account how much thatwould affect the other scenes we were doing that day that might be lighter orfrom one of Ursula’s different lives."

Kate Atkinson's 2013 bestseller has been gorgeously adapted for TV with almost everything intact.

It is a drama that makes you care about the lives of its characters, however many times you meet them. There is a danger of the story - structurally, it can never be more than a collection of vignettes - appearing lightweight or gimmicky. Somehow, she begins to intuit that death is around the corner and takes decisions that affect her life chances. If you are a fan of the book - and millions are - this drama should be pleasing. The story is a fantastical one. With great relief, I can tell you that none of the above applies to Life After Life. It is a gorgeously-realised and entirely faithful adaptation of Kate Atkinson’s 2013 bestseller.

Tonight, the four-part adaptation of Kate Atkinson's World War II novel airs on BBC Two, boasting a huge cast including Last Night In Soho's Thomasin Mckenzie ...

Life After Life follows Ursula Todd, who dies one night in 1910 before she can take her first breath. I am here to say it was hell.’ The cast of BBC’s new period drama Life After Life and the Married At First Sight contestants were randomly thrust together with ‘hellish’ results.

Life After Life is adapted by Bash Doran from the best-selling novel by Kate Atkinson and directed by John Crowley. A teaser shares: "In 1910, Ursula is born ...

"On that same night in 1910, Ursula is reborn and survives. Ursula is then born for the second time. A teaser shares: "In 1910, Ursula is born for the first time to Sylvie and Hugh Todd. She dies at birth.

Ursula: Thomasin McKenzie; Sylvie: Sian Clifford; Hugh: James McArdle; Mrs Glover: Jessica Hynes; Dr Fellowes: Ron Cook; Teddy: Sean Delaney; Ursula (10 Years): ...

- Bridget: Maria Laird - Teddy: Sean Delaney - Ursula: Thomasin McKenzie

The sedate drama follows Ursula, a child who dies in a multitude of ways only to come back to life.

Lesley Manville’s narration was unfortunately reminiscent of Brenda Strong’s voiceover in Desperate Housewives. Not that the guidance was entirely unwelcome, helping to navigate the story’s frequent toing and froing. These rewinds could have been off-putting, but the handsome production was bolstered by strong performances. And so on, through to a fatal dose of Spanish Flu.

In Life After Life, Last Night in Soho star Thomasin McKenzie plays a young woman who lives through both world wars and remains stuck in a time loop.

For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to the Radio Times podcast with Jane Garvey. In this opening episode, Clifford in particular gives a great performance as the contrary Sylvie, who is at once both loving and negligent, inflexible and mercurial. Wartime period dramas are standard fare for the BBC, but Life After Life, based on Kate Atkinson's novel of the same name, is an example of the genre with a twist, following a young woman who can die and be reborn an infinite number of times.

Actual dying happens a lot to Ursula Todd, the heroine of Kate Atkinson's bravura 2013 novel who is magnetically brought to (adult) life by Thomasin McKenzie.

The four-part period drama plays out against the backdrop of both World Wars. Based on the novel by Kate Atkinson, Life After Life is the first of two books ...

The Power of the Dog was another major film on her CV, in which she appeared as Lola alongside the likes of Benedict Cumberbatch, Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Plemons and Kodi Smit-McPhee. Her first major movie was The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies in 2014, in which she played the small role of Astrid. She made her debut in 2012, when she was aged around 12, in Existence, before appearing as a young version of campaigner Louise Nicholas in television film Consent: The Louise Nicholas Story.

The Life After Life book gripped our imaginations with the many lives and deaths of Ursula Todd and now it's been brought to life on screen...

As well as writing the Life After Life book and A God In Ruins, Kate Atkinson also wrote four bestselling Jackson Brodie novels. It also has a seriously devastating ending twist that fans of Life After Life might even have been shocked by, despite becoming accustomed to unexpected twists of fate in the preceding novel. As with so many of the best book-to-TV and best book-to-movie adaptations, fans of the original Life After Life book will no doubt be wondering just how closely the new BBC drama is to Kate Atkinson’s original story. Telling the tale of Teddy Todd, beloved brother of Life After Life hero Ursula, this poignant and compelling read explores his life as a bomber pilot, aspiring poet and family man. Two years after the release of her original novel, Kate Atkinson’s Life After Life book follow-up was published. Now this brilliant book is being brought to life on screen in the BBC’s dramatic adaptation of this time-jumping tale.

Jessica Brown Findlay who plays Izzie Todd in the new adaptation of the book Life After Life by Kate Atkinson talks about the series.

A lot of the reasons why we survive the things that come our way is that we’re not warned about it first, you just have to deal with it as you are living. It is not a simple adaptation. She’s the epitome of the “fun aunt”, much to Ursula’s mum’s annoyance. ‘Izzie gave me a decent boost of rebellion, which I probably needed. But now I don’t think like that at all because it’s such a waste of time! Life After Life is high-concept sci-fi with a period drama twist – and a fascinating look at what it means to live your best life.