A comedy drama set in Margate in which three sisters' lives are disrupted by the sudden return of their fourth sibling. Sharon Horgan created Dreamland as a television expansion of her 2017 Sky Arts short Morgana Robinson's Summer, with development underway as early as July 2019. The series is produced by Horgan and Clelia Mountford's Merman Films in association with Sky Studios, with Emma Jane Unsworth serving as showrunner and associate producer alongside a writers' room that included Gabby Best, Sharma Angel-Walfall, and Sarah Kendall.
Ellie Heydon directed all six episodes. Principal photography took place in Margate, Kent in summer 2022, using locations including the town's tidal pool, the Dalby Cafe, and the Winter Gardens, with additional filming in London. Lily Allen made her television acting debut in the series, playing Mel, one of the sisters.
Freema Agyeman was announced as her co-lead the month after Allen's casting was confirmed. Gabby Best, Aimee-Ffion Edwards, and Frances Barber reprised roles they had played in the original short, while Kiell Smith-Bynoe, Sheila Reid, and Samantha Bond joined as new additions. The series premiered on Sky Atlantic on 6 April 2023.
Critical reception was mixed. Rachel Aroesti in the Guardian awarded three stars and observed that the series traded the lean, spiky quality of the original short for something warmer and less precise. Isobel Lewis in the Independent also gave it three out of five.
Production Details
United Kingdom / Sky Atlantic - Merman / 2023
Writers: Emma Jane Unsworth, Gabby Best, Sarah Kendall, Sharma Angel-Walfall
Directors: Ellie Heydon
Main Cast
Freema Agyeman as Trish
Lily Allen as Mel
Frances Barber as Cheryl/Mum
Gabby Best as Clare
Aimee-Ffion Edwards as Leila
Sheila Reid as Nan
Kiell Smith-Bynoe as Spence
