Bella Ramsey has joined Daisy Haggard’s six-part Channel 4 thriller Maya, taking the title role opposite Haggard’s Anna. The casting unites the Emmy-nominated Last of Us actor with Haggard, who writes, stars and leads the witness-protection narrative about a mother forced to flee London with her teenage daughter after a life-threatening incident.
First announced in February, the drama follows the family’s relocation to a remote Scottish town, raising tension as two hitmen close in and past trauma shadows daily life. Channel 4 bills the story as a psychological thriller that questions identity, examines predatory behaviour and tracks the desperate lengths a parent will take to keep a child safe.
Ramsey said the scripts feel “alive, nuanced, wickedly funny and scarily dark,” praising Haggard’s fast-paced dialogue. Haggard, making her directing debut alongside Jamie Donoughue, called Ramsey “pure magic” and revealed the role had been written with the young performer firmly in mind.
Executive producers Daisy Mount and Alex Mercer added that Ramsey was always the first choice for Maya, stressing that the mother-daughter dynamic sits at the core of the series. Maya is produced by Two Brothers Pictures, the label behind Fleabag and The Tourist, with worldwide sales handled by All3Media International.
The show was commissioned by Channel 4 drama head Ollie Madden and commissioning editor Gemma Boswell as part of a broader drama slate revealed earlier this year. Cameras are due to roll in Scotland later in 2025, with transmission details still under wraps.
