Queenie TV show comes to Channel 4

The TV adaptation of Candice Carty-Williams’ hit novel Queenie comes to Channel 4 this summer, starting Tuesday, 4 June.

The critically acclaimed book has been turned into an eight-part show.

Meet Queenie Jenkins, a name that needs no introduction. At 25, Queenie is a Jamaican British woman navigating the complexities of both cultures. A South London stalwart, she’s a journalist, a loyal friend, not so loyal daughter and granddaughter, and a sometimes catastrophist. While occasionally a mess, she is more often an undervalued success – and always enough.

Queenie works at a national newspaper, where she constantly compares herself to her white, middle-class colleagues. After a messy breakup with her long-term white boyfriend, Tom, Queenie feels lost, seeking comfort in all the wrong places, including the beds and backseats of men who fail to affirm her self-worth.

Surrounded by her ‘Corgis’, a group of brilliant but not always sympathetic girlfriends – Kyazike, Darcy, and Cassandra – Queenie impulsively jumps from one regrettable decision to another. She grapples with the big, bruising questions every woman faces in a world bombarding them with answers: “What are you doing? Why are you doing it? Who do you want to be?”

Queenie is about heartbreak, bad dates, and worse sex. It’s about South London, its gentrification, and what it represents. It’s about race, identity, culture, and the politics that shape you. It’s about the love of friends, the chaos of family and community, and all the varying relationships in-between, especially the one with yourself.

Razor-sharp, utterly honest, blisteringly funny, and beautifully relatable, Queenie the TV series will embody as much heart and soul as Queenie herself. At its core, it’s a story about a young Black woman’s value and the unrelenting trials and tribulations of life.

Meet the cast

Dionne Brown stars in the title role with Samuel Adewunmi, Bellah, Sally Phillips, Jon Pointing, Tilly Keeper, Llewella Gideon, Michelle Greenidge, Cristale De’Abreu, Elisha Applebaum and Mim Shaikh also on the cast.

Candice Carty-Williams said: “Being able to bring Queenie, her family, and of course the Corgis to the screen, is so exciting to me. And to do that with Channel 4, who has always set the tone for what television is about by pushing the boundaries of what we watch, is an added bonus.

“It’s clear to me that Queenie, a character whose story came to me when I was battling my way through my own messy twenties, is still so relevant today, and it’s about time that a show like this can explore why. To adapt and breathe new life into a story that has been talked about across the globe, and to bring Queenie, our problematic fave, to a whole new audience, is such a privilege.”

Caroline Hollick, Head of Channel 4 Drama added: “Candice is the stand-out voice of her generation and has created an iconic character in Queenie whose honesty, vulnerability and sharp sense of humour shines an unflinching light on who we are today. I’m so excited for this adaptation, and I’m in no doubt that both Queenie and Candice are going to take Channel 4 by storm!”

Queenie starts on Channel 4 on Tuesday, 4 June at 10PM.