Adult Material start date and cast confirmed for new Channel 4 drama

Channel 4 has confirmed the start date cast for its new adult drama Adult Material.

First announced in 2018, Adult Material will see Hayley Squires (I, Daniel Blake, The Miniaturist) play the lead character Jolene Dollar.

Channel 4 said the four part series “delves inside the porn industry from the perspective of a woman who has been working in it her entire adult life and has seen it grow from an illegitimate backroom enterprise to a mainstream and highly profitable arm of the telecommunications industry.

“Adult Material will interrogate what’s real, what’s fake, what’s up for sale and the impact that these things have on the individuals involved.”

The series will begin on Monday, October 5 at 10PM on Channel 4.

The whole series will be available to watch online or download for free on All 4 following the transmission of the first episode.

Written by Lucy Kirkwood, Adult Material will also star Siena Kelly (Vanity Fair, Temple), Kerry Godliman (Afterlife, Save Me), Joe Dempsie (Game of Thrones, Deep State), Julian Ovenden (Downton Abbey, Knightfall), Phil Daniels (A Very Very Very Dark Matter, Sliced) and Rupert Everett (Another Country, My Best Friend’s Wedding, The Happy Prince).

Squires plays Jolene Dollar, a regular mother of three, who is proudly the breadwinner of the family. But Jolene doesn’t have the most conventional of careers: she is one of the top porn performers in the UK.

Hayley Squires said today: “I am so excited and incredibly grateful to be playing Jolene Dollar, she is like the wildest dream. Lucy has written the most complex, multi-faceted and morally challenging story.

“Throughout each episode you are constantly forced to question your own judgement and beliefs and that makes for the very best drama. I’m very lucky to be part of a female-led crew and an incredibly talented cast.”

One day on set, Jolene is introduced to Amy (played by Siena Kelly). Amy is 19, not much older than Jolene’s oldest daughter, Phoebe (played by Alex Jarrett).

Rupert Everett plays Jolene’s long-term friend, producer and businessman, Carroll Quinn. Carroll has been in the business a long time and has seen the porn industry change to a multi-million-dollar proposition. He’s constantly trying to keep up with the times and technology.

Joe Dempsie plays Rich, Jolene’s loving and dedicated long-term partner.

Julian Ovenden plays the US porn Kingpin, Tom Pain, a man from porn’s most extreme quarter, for whom ‘no’ doesn’t exist.

Finally, Kerry Godliman plays MP, Stella Maitland, whose life becomes intertwined with Jolene’s when they form an unlikely friendship. Stella comes to her defence when Jolene’s career, family, and reputation are in tatters.