Bella Ramsey to star in Channel 4 thriller series Maya

Bella Ramsey has confirmed their next big role: they will star in Maya, a new Channel 4 thriller drama series. The series follows Maya and her mother Anna, who are forced to leave their lives in London behind and go into hiding in a witness protection program. They are given new identities in a small, remote village in Scotland, but are still haunted by their traumatic past. As they try to build a new life, they are hunted by two hitmen who want to track them down at all costs.



Maya is written and created by Daisy Haggard. The six-part series is produced by Two Brothers Pictures and marks Haggard’s directorial debut, alongside co-director Jamie Donoughue, known for Doctor Who (2024). Bella Ramsey (pictured), known for The Last of Us and Game of Thrones, will play Maya, the teenage daughter of Anna, played by Haggard herself.

Channel 4 announced the series in February as part of a new slate of dramas, which also includes a reimagining of A Woman of Substance — one of the network’s most-watched dramas ever — and Falling, a new series from screenwriter Jack Thorne (Adolescence).

Maya is described as atmospheric and darkly comic, in line with Haggard’s previous work, including the tragicomic series Back to Life and the FX comedy Breeders. The series explores themes of predatory male behavior, family ties, love and, most importantly, the unbreakable bond between mother and daughter.

Filming will take place entirely in Scotland later this year, with more cast names to be announced soon.

Ramsey’s star continues to rise: their participation in Maya follows on the heels of The Last of Us season two, which concluded in the US with an impressive cross-platform audience of 3.7 million viewers. Last year it was reported that Ramsey had been cast as Samantha Lewthwaite — better known as the ‘White Widow’ — in Bruce Goodison’s Girl Next Door, but it has since emerged that she is no longer attached to that project.