Nikki May’s debut novel Wahala is heading to the BBC, and the adaptation has assembled one of the most exciting female-led casts in recent British television!

The BBC has announced that filming has begun on the six-part thriller, adapted by BAFTA-nominated writer Theresa Ikoko, for BBC iPlayer and BBC One. For those of us who read May’s novel when it arrived and immediately understood that it was television waiting to happen, this moment feels both inevitable and overdue.

Published in 2021, Wahala, a Nigerian word meaning trouble, follows Simi, Boo, and Ronke, three Nigerian-British women in their thirties navigating careers, love, and family in London, whose carefully balanced world begins to fracture when a charismatic, super-wealthy new acquaintance named Isobel enters their circle. What follows is a thriller built on the specific texture of Nigerian-British friendship: its loyalty, its history, its secrets, and the particular way that women who have shared everything can become strangers to each other when the wrong pressure is applied. May’s novel was sharp, funny, and genuinely suspenseful, a book that knew exactly what it was doing.

The adaptation is in the right hands. Theresa Ikoko, whose screenplay for Rocks earned her a BAFTA nomination, wrote the scripts and serves as one of three directors alongside Leonora Lonsdale and Remi Weekes. The BBC’s Director of Drama Lindsay Salt described Ikoko’s scripts as “riveting, full of rich and complex characters, and everything you’d want from Nikki May’s exquisite book brought vividly to life on screen.” Ikoko also executive produces alongside Nawfal Faizullah for the BBC and Elizabeth Kilgarriff and Craig Holleworth for Firebird Pictures, part of BBC Studios, which will handle global sales.

Photo Credit: BBC L-R: Adelayo Adedayo, Deborah Ayorinde, Cush Jumbo, Susan Wokoma and Genevieve Nnaji.

The cast is led by Adelayo Adedayo, Cush Jumbo, and Susan Wokoma as Simi, Boo, and Ronke respectively, with Deborah Ayorinde playing the disruptive Isobel. Nigerian screen icon Genevieve Nnaji rounds out the ensemble. Wokoma, a self-described long-time fan of Ikoko’s writing, called the production a “powerhouse Wahala team.” Ikoko herself simply said: “I can’t wait to bring Wahala to life.”

No premiere date has been announced yet, but Wahala will air on BBC One and BBC iPlayer in the UK. We will be watching closely.