The BBC has cast Toheeb Jimoh, best known as Emmy-nominated Sam in Apple TV's Ted Lasso, and Dujonna Gift, who appeared in Disney's 2025 Snow White, to lead its television adaptation of Caleb Azumah Nelson's debut novel Open Water. Jimoh plays Marcus, a retail worker pursuing photography, opposite Gift's Effie, a dance student in Dublin; the pair share an instant connection complicated by Effie's relationship with Marcus's friend Samuel. The project, first unveiled by the BBC two years ago, sees author Azumah Nelson adapt and direct his own novel, one of the most acclaimed books of recent years.

The extensive supporting cast includes Rhianna Dorris, Lamar Waves, Nadine Marshall, Hope Ikpoku Jnr and Sherise Blackman, among many others. Open Water is produced by Banijay-backed Mam Tor Productions and B-Side Productions for BBC iPlayer and BBC One, commissioned by BBC Drama director Lindsay Salt, with Azumah Nelson serving as lead writer, director and executive producer alongside Tally Garner, Matimba Kabalika and Rebecca Ferguson. Composer Cassie Kinoshi will provide an original score, while both Jimoh and Azumah Nelson described the project as a deeply personal, long-awaited passion piece.