Huge winter TV reveal as Michaela Coel announces I May Destroy You follow up for BBC

First Day on Earth will be programmed on the BBC

I May Destroy You was an era defining lockdown drama alongside Sally Rooney’s Normal People, and four years on, writer Michaela Coel has revealed details of her new BBC show.

It had been rumoured Coel, one of Britain’s most celebrated Black writer-performers, was putting together a follow-up to I May Destroy You, but in May producers announced that project was shelved.

Coel, who rose to fame via her one-woman show and TV programme Chewing Gum Dreams, has announced her new project is called First Day on Earth. It will document a British-Ghanaian woman who leaves behind a lacklustre relationship and work opportunities in London to explore Ghana and reconnect with her father.

New Michaela Coel BBC drama First Day on Earth

But upon arrival, nothing is as British novelist Henri (played by Coel) expects. She deals with feelings of anger and hypocrisy and questions her identity as she goes on a journey press material says “might leave her stronger, but could also break her.”

Coel says: “The process of creating FDOE [First Day on Earth] 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!”

Executive producers Phil Clarke and Roberto Troni say: “We’re delighted and feel extremely lucky that Michaela chose to bring her brilliant new show to us, after the extraordinary experience we had working together on I May Destroy You. 

“Yet again, Michaela delivers a highly original, singular story that explores the relationship between England and Ghana via a second generation British-Ghanaian woman who takes up the opportunity to return to the homeland of her parents and finds herself encountering a cast of memorable characters and experiences that force her to face some painful home truths. But as ever with Michaela, it is by turns shocking, funny and unforgettable, and done in her inimitable style.”

Coel is partnering with the BBC, HBO and Various Artists Limited for First Day on Earth, the same teams she worked with for I May Destroy You. Indie film company A24, behind Everything Everywhere All At Once, Midsommar and Moonlight, are also partnering with the new BBC production. Coel will write, star and executive produce the drama.

No release date has yet been confirmed though it is likely to be winter 2024 or into the early part of 2025.

Coel was born in east London to Ghanaian parents and had her earliest success with play Chewing Gum Dreams, which received a raft of positive reviews at the Bush Theatre in 2012 and was later produced for TV.

I May Destroy You was inspired by Coel’s own experience of being drugged and assaulted, and received a series of five-star reviews from critics who lauded it for examining trauma in a fresh way. Coel also starred in 2022’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.

First Day on Earth will appear on the BBC.