Happy Valley and Gavin & Stacey favourites star in exclusive first look at emotional new British drama with tech twist

Happy Valley's Siobhan Finneran and Gavin & Stacey's Laura Aikman are among the stars to feature in upcoming British film Chatlines – and Radio Times can exclusively reveal the first-look trailer for the emotional drama.

The sci-fi movie – which has been described as "Black Mirror meets The Fault in Our Stars" – will debut on 20th March at the upcoming Manchester Film Festival before getting a wider UK release at a yet-to-be-confirmed date later this year.

Set in 2027, it stars Lloyd Eyre-Morgan (who also co-directs with Neil Ely) as Jordan, a thirty-something man with terminal cancer "who spends his final days drifting between morphine dreams and digital distractions".

The synopsis continues: "On a whim, he logs into an old Chatroulette-style app and meets Danny – a sharp, vibrant man who is also terminally ill, but insists it’s 2005. As the days pass, the two form a deep connection, opening up about regret, hope, and the loneliness of facing death too soon."

Danny is played by Nico Mirallegro while there are also key roles for Finneran, Aikman, Faye McKeever (The Responder) and Hannah Jones (What It Feels Like for a Girl), although more specific details of their characters have not been divulged at this stage.

The trailer – which you can watch in full at the top of the page – begins with some very sci-fi imagery of Danny appearing to burst out of Jordan's computer screen.

"He's a lad that's been time travelling through my computer from 2005, do you not get it?" we hear the latter trying to explain at one point, only for him to be told by McKeever's character: "Whatever this is, this is mental."

We also see several snippets of Jordan and Danny bonding as they appear to form a romantic connection while dealing with their illnesses, while we get a very brief glimpse of Finneran's character smiling.

The project was previously announced by Deadline last year, with filming having taken place in summer 2025.

Chatlines will be released in the UK later this year, with tickets to watch it at the Manchester Film Festival available now.

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