In March 2025, Adolescence took the world (or at least anyone with a Netflix subscription) by storm with its gruelling and hard-to-put-down drama about a teenager accused of murdering a classmate. The series, which remains one of the best shows from the 2025 TV schedule, won a number of Primetime Emmy Awards, including top honors in the limited series and writing categories for Jack Thorne. Now, Thorne is turning his attention to another ambitious TV project: adapting William Golding’s Lord of the Flies.
At some point in the near future, this upcoming book-to-screen adaptation will bring to life one of the most iconic, emotionally gripping, and intense novels of the 20th century. From the cast of young actors to Thorne’s thoughts on the material, here’s everything we know about Lord of the Flies.
What Is The Lord Of The Flies Premiere Date?
The BBC has yet to announce when the four-episode adaptation of Lord of the Flies will premiere in the UK (or in the United States via Sony Pictures Television). However, with production having taken place in 2024, it wouldn’t be surprising to see it land on the small screen at some point in 2026. Expect to hear much more about the premiere date (and how you can watch it here in the States) in the coming months.
Lord Of The Flies Follows A Group Of Schoolchildren Stranded On An Island Following A Devastating Plane Crash
When Lord of the Flies takes to the airwaves, it will serve as a faithful adaptation of William Golding’s landmark novel about a group of schoolboys stranded on a desert island after surviving a plane crash that killed all the adults aboard. First published by Faber & Faber in 1954, the book follows the survivors as they first attempt to self-govern themselves to keep order and survive the harrowing situation before descending into savagery and madness, resulting in some of the most traumatizing scenes in 20th-century literature.
The BBC has announced that the series, which is the first TV adaptation of Golding’s novel, will be split into four episodes, each titled after one of the main characters: Ralph, Piggy, Simon, and Jack. It will be interesting to see how Jack Thorne and director Marc Munden tell the story through the eyes of each of these schoolboys, especially after Thorne tackled some heavy topics and themes in Adolescence.
The Lord Of The Flies Cast
You can’t have Lord of the Flies without all those memorable characters like Ralph, Piggy, Jack, and Simon, but luckily, that won’t be a problem when the new adaptation drops. Here are the young actors BBC has announced for the show so far:
- Winston Sawyers as Ralph
- David McKenna as Piggy
- Lox Pratt as Jack
- Ike Talbut as Simon
- Thomas Connor as Roger.
- Noah and Cassius Flemyng as Sam and Eric
- Cornelius Brandreth as Maurice
- Tom Page-Turner as Bill
On top of those actors, the series will also feature an ensemble cast of a couple of dozen other boys who’ll fall into the “big ‘uns” and “little ‘uns” camps on the deserted island.
Jack Thorne Has Always Wanted To Adapt Lord Of The Flies
Over the years, Jack Thorne has worked on everything from Adolescence to Skins and The Secret Garden to His Dark Materials, but it’s Lord of the Flies that he’s always wanted to make. Thorne sat down for an interview with CinemaBlend back in June 2025 to talk about the impact of Adolescence and future projects, and during the chat, he revealed how his adaptation of Golding’s novel came to be:
It started with a conversation between me and [executive producer Joel Wilson]. … We're just in his kitchen, his kids were playing with my kid, and he said, ‘What is it, what's the one book that you are desperate to do?’ And I said, ‘I always want to do Lord of the Flies.’ It was the book that meant most to me as a kid. And he said, ‘I'm gonna make that happen.’ And he did.
This shows that if you want to make your dreams come true, you just have to vocalize them to your friends. With Thorne caring so much about the novel and its place in pop culture, we’re even more excited to see how this all goes down.
The Series Was Adapted With The Support Of William Golding's Family
Golding passed away at the age of 81 back in 1993, so Thorne couldn’t get his permission to adapt Lord of the Flies. However, he and his team did reach out to the Nobel Prize-winning author’s family before proceeding, and they gave him their full support. When CinemaBlend was chatting with Thorne about the project over summer 2025, he opened up about how the team approached the family to get their blessing:
The bit that took time was persuading the estate of our take and telling them how much we were going to protect the book and how much we cared about the book. And then we took it to The BBC and they went, ‘Yeah.’ It was just kind of like, ‘Okay, let's go,’ you know?
Knowing how passionate Thorne is about the project and his love of the material, it’s no surprise that he was able to talk the family through his vision of Golding’s transformative and highly influential novel.
How To Watch Previous Lord Of The Flies Adaptations
Though it will still be some time before Thorne’s take on Lord of the Flies comes out, there are two other adaptations of Golding’s novel that you can watch right now. Anyone with an HBO Max subscription can watch Peter Brook’s 1963 film adaptation, while Harry Hook’s 1990 version is available with a Howdy subscription (Roku’s low-cost streaming platform).
Be on the lookout for more details about Lord of the Flies in the coming weeks and months, especially when it comes to a trailer. Until then, take a look at our breakdown of the best movies based on classic literature.
You must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.
