Cush Jumbo, Adelayo Adedayo, Deborah Ayorinde and Susan Wokoma are leading the cast of Wahala, the BBC adaptation of the Nikki May novel from Rocks director Theresa Ikoko.
The show weaves between four Nigerian-British women in their thirties, navigating careers, love and family in present day London.
Adedayo (The Responder, Supacell), Jumbo (Criminal Record, The Young People) and Wokoma (Cheaters, Enola Holmes) play Simi, Boo and Ronke, best friends who have shared every aspect of life for years. Their carefully balanced world is disrupted when Isobel, played by Ayorinde (Them, Nine Bodies in a Mexican Morgue) a charismatic and super-wealthy new acquaintance, enters their orbit.
The four are joined by Nigerian screen icon Genevieve Nnaji. Ikoko co-wrote Rocks, the critically-acclaimed coming-of-age drama that earned her a BAFTA nomination.
Lindsay Salt, Director of BBC Drama, said: “Theresa’s scripts for Wahala are an absolute joy – riveting, full of rich and complex characters, and everything you’d want from Nikki May’s exquisite book brought vividly to life on screen. It’s no surprise that it’s attracted a cast of this magnificent calibre.”
Wahala is executive produced by Nawfal Faizullah for the BBC, Elizabeth Kilgarriff and Craig Holleworth for Firebird Pictures and Ikoko. The directors are Leonora Lonsdale, Ikoko and Remi Weekes and the producer is Ado Yoshizaki Cassuto. BBC Studios will handle global sales.
