New BBC epic war drama with 100% on Rotten Tomatoes gets release date

We've been waiting months for this, but the show finally premieres this week.

The Australian show is an adaptation of the Booker Prize-winning novel by the same name by Richard Flanagan. The book has been brought to the screen by the acclaimed director Justin Kurzel (The Order, True History of the Kelly Gang) and writer Shaun Grant (Mindhunter, True History of the Kelly Gang).

Told in five parts, the series charts the life of Dorrigo Evans, played by Elordi as a young man and Hinds when he is older, "through his passionate love affair with Amy Mulvaney (Odessa Young, Assassination Nation), his time held captive in a World War II prisoner of war camp, and his later years spent as a revered surgeon and reluctant war hero".

The Narrow Road to the Deep North also features amongst its cast Dan Wyllie (Animal Kingdom), Essie Davis (The Babadook), Ewen Leslie (The Cry), Olivia DeJonge (Elvis) and Simon Baker (The Mentalist).

Holding a perfect 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes, you can read a sample of some of the rave reviews for the show below:

The Guardian: "You never doubt the show’s realism, or the compassion underpinning it. This is less about the theatre of war than the psychological stain it leaves."

The Hollywood Reporter: "There’s a lingering soulfulness here that feels new to Kurzel’s work, distilled in an intensely moving lead performance from Jacob Elordi."

The Nightly (AU): "A lush, character-driven Australian drama that is not only beautifully performed and stunningly shot but also intellectually and emotionally vigorous."

Slate: "It’s gorgeous, ugly, and stirring, with parts that seared themselves into my brain, and it got me to read a really good novel."

Prime Video distributed The Narrow Road to the Deep North in Australia, the US and some other territories, while the BBC acquired the rights to show it in the UK and Ireland.

This meant that, though the series was released around the world in April of this year via Prime Video, Irish and UK audiences had to wait for the BBC to air the programme.

Thankfully, the British broadcaster has now finally revealed that the war drama will premiere on BBC One on Sunday, 20 July at 9.15pm.