SKY : Adrian Lester, Iwan Rheon, Dimitri Leonidas, Lena Olin, Roxanne Duran and Phil Davis join Julia Stiles in Sky’s Riviera.

Get set to join the jet set: Sky's brand-new pan European original drama Riviera confirms full cast, as filming begins on location in the South of France.

A story of morally ambiguous characters, complex relationships and emotionally driven drama, Riviera is based in the opulent world of the ultra-rich and set against the stunning backdrop of the sun-drenched South of France. The 10-part thriller is created by Oscar®-winning writer and director Neil Jordan (The Borgias), based on an idea by Paul McGuinness and co-written by Booker Prize-winning author John Banville (The Sea).

With Julia Stiles (The Bourne Series) as Georgina, a Midwestern US girl turned smart, resourceful wife of the billionaire Constantine Clios, the series will also star Adrian Lester (Undercover, London Spy) as Georgina's friend and art dealer Robert Carver; Iwan Rheon (Game of Thrones) and Dimitri Leonidas (The Monuments Men) as Constantine's sons Adam and Christos; Lena Olin (Vinyl, Chocolat) as Irina, Constantine's beautiful ex-wife, Roxanne Duran (White Ribbon) as Adriana and Phil Davis as Jukes, the art fraud investigator trying to get to the heart of the truth.

Lena Olin commented: 'I am thrilled to be joining the cast of Riviera, alongside Julia Stiles and the amazing cast from around the world and to be working with the amazing collaborative team behind the camera. Irina is a wonderful role that I can't wait to bring to life and it's so exciting be part of a series anchored by two strong female characters.'

Adrian Lester added: 'I'm very pleased I've been given the opportunity to work with such a talented international team on this thriller. Cast and crew are top notch. I can't wait to get started.'

After just a year of marriage, the immaculate life Georgina has quickly become intoxicated by is blown apart when her art collector husband Constantine is killed in an explosion aboard the yacht of a Russian oligarch and arms dealer.

Believing there to be more to the tragedy, she sets out to uncover what happened. Dark truths about Constantine's dealings emerge and, as she begins to realise who she was really married to, Georgina enters a spiral of moral descent as she becomes immersed in a world of lies, double-dealing and criminality.

In order to maintain the Clioses' legendary Côte d'Azur mansion and protect the family and its fortune, she will have to learn to adapt, survive and ultimately thrive in her dangerous new reality. But as she first proved back in her days as a fine-art scholar in the US, she's an A-plus student…

Riviera is being produced for Sky by Archery Pictures and Primo Productions. Executive producers are Neil Jordan, Liza Marshall (Red Riding Trilogy, Taboo), Kris Thykier (Kick-Ass, Woman in Gold) and former U2 manager Paul McGuinness. The series will be produced by Foz Allan, with award winning Philipp Kadelbach as lead Director (Generation War, SSGB) and BAFTA award winning Laurie Rose as Director of Photography. The series was commissioned by Sky's head of drama Anne Mensah, commissioning editor Cameron Roach and director of Sky Atlantic Zai Bennett. Worldwide distribution is being handled by Sky Vision (Sky international division).

Riviera will be available for Sky's 21 million customers across five countries to enjoy, showing exclusively on Sky Atlantic in the UK, Ireland and Italy in 2017 as well as on the Sky platform in Germany and Austria.

It joins a host of original drama series already on air or set to air over the next couple of years on Sky Atlantic and Sky 1, including The Young Pope, Hooten & The Lady, Guerrilla, Tin Star, Delicious, Jamestown, Britannia and The Last Dragonslayer, as well as returning series including Fortitude, Gomorrah and Agatha Raisin.

It also follows a successful year for Sky original drama, with BAFTA nominations for The Last Panthers and The Enfield Haunting and record-breaking audiences for Stan Lee's Lucky Man on Sky 1.

For further information, please contact:

Abigail Tye

Sky Content PR

Abigail.Tye@sky.uk

+44 (0)207 032 4713

About Sky

Sky is Europe's leading entertainment company, serving 21 million customers across five countries: UK, Ireland, Germany, Austria and Italy. We offer the best and broadest range of content, deliver market-leading customer service and use innovative new technology to give customers a better TV experience, whenever and wherever they choose.

Sky has annual revenues of over £11 billion and is Europe's leading investor in television content with a combined programming budget of £4.9 billion. The group employs 30,000 people and is listed on the London Stock Exchange (SKY).

About Sky Vision

Sky Vision is the production and distribution arm of Sky. The distribution arm is the fastest growing Top 10 distributor in the UK (Broadcast Distributors' Survey 2015) and represents around 5,000 hours of quality primetime programming from Sky Originals and independent third party production, across all key primetime genres (drama, entertainment, factual entertainment and factual).

The business also has equity investments in seven production businesses in the UK and US; Love Productions, Blast! Films, Sugar Films and Sky Vision Productions in the UK; and in the US, Jupiter Entertainment, Talos Films and Znak & Jones.

In addition to its equity investments, Sky Vision works extensively with independent producers in the UK and US and has development deals with a number of production companies; including Asylum Entertainment and Peacock Alley in North America; and Avanti Media, back2back productions, Chalkboard, Hungry Bear Media, LittleRock Pictures, Merman Films, Spring Films, and Roughcut TV in the UK.

About Paul McGuinness

Paul McGuinness established Principle Management in 1982, and managed U2 from the start of their career. U2 have won 22 Grammys and sold over 160 million albums worldwide. Principle Management was one of the world's leading artist management companies with offices in Dublin & NY, overseeing U2 and multiple Mercury Prize Winner - PJ Harvey. The company was sold to Live Nation in 2013.

Mr McGuinness is also a partner in Ardmore Film Studios in Ireland. He is a member of BAFTA and was a member of the Arts Council of Ireland for 12 years. In 1998, he was one of the founders of TV3 in Ireland. Since 1995, McGuinness Whelan Ltd have been the publishers of RIVERDANCE THE MUSICAL.

Paul McGuinness has received numerous awards including Freedom of the City of Dublin with U2 (1999), Honorary Doctorate in Law from University College Dublin (2000), Pollstar Music Awards 'Personal Manager of the Year' (2003), Strat Award 'Outstanding Contribution to British Music' at Music Week Awards, Peter Grant Award for Lifetime Achievement in Music (2006), and the Billboard Industry Icon Award (2014). Alongside U2, he was awarded the Amnesty International Ambassador of Conscience Award in Chile in 2006.

About Archery Pictures

Archery Pictures was founded in October 2014 by Liza Marshall and Kris Thykier.

Marshall was formerly Head of Scott Free London, a company she established five years ago, where she produced film projects including BEFORE I GO TO SLEEP, starring Nicole Kidman; WELCOME TO THE PUNCH starring James McAvoy; GET SANTA starring Jim Broadbent and Rafe Spall as well as the ground-breaking film LIFE IN A DAY, directed by Kevin MacDonald and produced with You Tube. Marshall was also responsible for TV projects including BRITAIN IN A DAY and the high profile BBC drama TABOO, starring Tom Hardy.

Previous to this Marshall was Head of Drama at Channel 4 for five years and commissioned and Executive Produced a raft of critically acclaimed and award winning projects including THE RED RIDING TRILOGY, THE DEVIL'S WHORE, BRITZ, DEATH OF A PRESIDENT, ANY HUMAN HEART, BOY A, MO and MISFITS.

Thykier previously headed PeaPie Films which developed and produced TRASH with Working Title, directed by Stephen Daldry and based on a screenplay by Richard Curtis; ONE Chance, directed by David Frankel and starring James Corden, Alexandra Roach and Julie Walters; Dan Mazer's I GIVE IT A YEAR, starring Rose Byrne, Anna Faris, Rafe Spall and Simon Baker; and also the Danish language movie SUMMER OF '92, directed by Kasper Barfoed.

More recently Thykier has produced the epic romance ALI & NINO, which recently premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, directed by Asif Kapadia and written by Christopher Hampton; the John Wells' feature film, BURNT, set in the world of London restaurants and starring Bradley Cooper, Sienna Miller, Uma Thurman and Emma Thompson; and WOMAN IN GOLD, directed by Simon Curtis and starring Helen Mirren, Ryan Reynolds, Daniel Bruhl and Katie Holmes.