New TV drama Little Birdsis aSky Atlanticoriginal dramaseriesstarringJuno Temple, which aired its first episode at the start of the month.

The six-episode series is inspired by novelist Anas Nins posthumously published 1979 collection of erotic short stories, Little Birds. The plot amalgamates romantic storylines with drama, political intrigue, and hedonism. The collections 13 stories originally written in French are unrelated erotic shorts featuring a variety of characters exploring sex from a female perspective.

Set in 1955, Little Birds depicts the international zone, which was said to be one of the last outposts of colonial decadence. The story follows troubled American debutante Lucy Savage (played by Juno Temple), who desires an unconventional life free from the restrictive society she has grown up in. Along with Tangier itself, she finds herself on the cusp of achieving independence.

The series is based on a collection of erotic short stories, some of which mirror Nins own life. Born to Cuban parents in France in 1903, Nin lived a colourful life, punctuated with affairs with celebrated members of society including Henry Miller, Otto Frank and John Steinbeck. She is most renowned for her erotic fiction, particularly the collections Delta of Venus and Little Birds, which were published in 1977 and 1979. Both works are said to have been written in the 40s, when Nin was paid as little as $1 per page to write for an anonymous collector.

In 1955, Morocco was one year away from independence from colonial rule. In the 1920s, the city of Tangier had been officially made an international zone as part of the joint colonial regime of France, Spain and the United Kingdom.

After calling for Moroccan independence from the oppressive colonial regime in 1953, the Sultan of Morocco, Mohammed V, was forced into exile in Corsica. Many of the Moroccan nationalists inLittle Birdsare his supporters and wish him to return to power and fight for independence from the colonial forces.

Despite being set in Tangier, Little Birds was filmed on location in Andalusia with studio elements in Manchester. The reasoning behind the choice of location was because modern-day Andalusia is more similar to 1950s Tangier than the Moroccan city itself is today.

In February 2019, it was announced Juno Temple, Yumna Marwan and Raphael Acloque had been cast, with Stacie Passon directing.

Hugh Skinner, Jean-Marc Barr, Rossy De Palma, Nina Sosanya, Dave Constabile, Amy Landecker and Matt Lauria later joined the cast.

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What the new Sky drama series Little Birds is all about and what inspired it - iNews