Oscar winner Kate Winslet and BAFTA-nominated actress Maxine Peake are set to play sisters in The Unheard, a new five-part limited series for Netflix from the production companies behind the Emmy-winning Adolescence.

Written by Jack Thorne, who co-created and co-wrote Adolescence with Stephen Graham, the series will be directed by Lebanese filmmaker Mounia Akl, whose feature debut, Costa Brava, Lebanon, premiered at Venice in 2021. Production is scheduled to begin in 2027, while Netflix has yet to announce a release date. The project was unveiled by Netflix during the Edinburgh TV Festival as part of a new slate of UK commissions.

The Unheard centres on two sisters who are forced to go on the run after an act of vengeance goes wrong. As they are pursued, the drama will gradually explore what drove them to take such drastic action in the first place and whether escaping the consequences was ever really part of their plan.

The project brings together much of the producing team behind Adolescence. Warp Films, Matriarch Productions and Plan B are staging the new series, after previously joining forces on the acclaimed Netflix drama. The latter became one of the platform's most prominent British successes, ultimately winning eight Primetime Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series, and Outstanding Writing for Thorne and Graham.

Akl comes to the project after moving increasingly between independent cinema and high-end television. Her Costa Brava, Lebanon, starring Nadine Labaki and Saleh Bakri, travelled widely on the international festival circuit after bowing at Venice. On the small screen, she has directed episodes of The Responder, Boiling Point and Netflix's House of Guinness.

Winslet will also serve as an executive producer on The Unheard. The British actress, who won the Academy Award for Best Actress for The Reader, has increasingly moved between film and prestige television in recent years, with leading roles in HBO's Mare of Easttown and The Regime, alongside her continuing involvement in James Cameron's Avatar franchise.

Peake's recent television credits include the acclaimed Irish historical drama Say Nothing, while her extensive work across British film, television and theatre includes Funny Cow, The Theory of Everything, Black Mirror and Rules of the Game.

Executive-producing The Unheard are Mark Herbert and Emily Feller for Warp Films (UK); Hannah Walters and Stephen Graham for Matriarch Productions (UK); Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner and Nina Wolarsky for Plan B (USA); as well as the aforementioned Winslet and Thorne.

The series forms part of Netflix's latest push into UK-originated programming. Announcing the slate in Edinburgh, Netflix vice-president of UK content Anne Mensah stressed the platform's intention to continue backing ambitious British-led projects across drama, comedy, factual and entertainment.

Further casting, filming locations and a launch date for The Unheard are expected to be announced closer to the start of production in 2027.