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Waiting for the Out and House of Guinness favourites join starry cast of BBC's The Ministry of Time adaptation

Sophy star Aoife Hinds's parents have also joined the cast.

Headshots of Josh Finan and Emily Fairn put side by side.

Ruth Crafer, Phil Sharp

Published: Monday, 21 September 2026 at 11:00 am

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As the BBC's adaptation of Kaliane Bradley’s debut novel The Ministry of Time continues filming in and around London, a host of new cast members have been confirmed.

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These new additions to the cast will join the previously announced Aoife Hinds and Billy Howle, who will be playing Sophy and Graham respectively.

Those who have been cast include Hong Chau (Wuthering Heights) as Adela, Adeel Akhtar (Down Cemetery Road) as Quentin Ackerly, Tamara Lawrance (Get Millie Black) as Simellia, Emily Fairn (House of Guinness) as Margaret Kemble, Josh Finan (Waiting For The Out) as Captain Arthur Reginald-Smyth and Aisling Loftus (Sherwood) as Anne Spencer.

Also joining the series are Tawfeek Barhom (Cairo Conspiracy) as Brigadier and Nahuel Pérez Biscayart (120 Beats Per Minute) as Salese, while Sophy's parents, Peter and Channary, will be played by Hinds's real-life parents, Ciarán Hinds (Game of Thrones) and Hélène Patarot (Whitetail).

Headshots of Ciarán Hinds and Hélène Patarot put side by side.

Ciarán Hinds and Hélène Patarot. Liam Murphy, BBC

The synopsis for the series says: "The Ministry of Time is a newly established government department gathering ‘expats’ from across history in an experiment to test the viability of time-travel.

"Our heroine Sophy (Hinds) achieves a hard-fought promotion in the civil service, only to learn that her role as a ‘bridge’ is to help a time traveller acclimatise to the modern world as part of a top-secret Ministry programme.

"Commander Graham Gore (Howle) is a Victorian polar explorer and one of several ‘expats’ from history who are now part of the Ministry’s extraordinary experiment.

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"Throughout the series, the professional friendship between Sophy and Graham develops into an intense forbidden romance that reveals the transporting power of love across centuries, just as the sinister nature of the Ministry’s true intentions increasingly puts them in danger."

The six-part adaptation has been written by Alice Birch (Normal People) and produced by A24, with Aneil Karia (Top Boy) acting as the lead director.

The Ministry of Time is coming soon to BBC One and BBC iPlayer. Kaliane Bradley's The Ministry of Time novel is available to buy now.

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Authors

Black and white cut-out portrait headshot of James Hibbs, smiling against a lime green background.

James HibbsDrama Writer

James Hibbs is a Drama Writer for Radio Times, covering programmes across both streaming platforms and linear channels. He previously worked in PR, first for a B2B agency and subsequently for international TV production company Fremantle. He possesses a BA in English and Theatre Studies and an NCTJ Level 5 Diploma in Journalism.

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