E4, Netflix to adapt teen comic book

E4 in the UK and Netflix have begun work on a dark comedy based on a series of comic books titled The End of the F***king World.

Alex Lawther in Channel 4 and Netflix’s Black Mirror

Written by Charlie Covell, the 8×30′ series is produced by Clerkenwell Films and Dominic Buchanan Productions, with BBC Worldwide securing the global deal with Netflix.

The series is based on comic books of the same name by Charles Forsman and follows outcast teens James and Alyssa, played by Alex Lawther (Black Mirror, The Imitation Game) and Jessica Barden (Ellen, Penny Dreadful). The pair embark on a road trip to find Alyssa’s father, who left home when she was a child.

It will premiere on Channel 4’s youth-skewing network E4 later this year and will also be available on Netflix globally.

“If David Lynch made a rom-com road movie about a pair of teen misfits in British suburbia it might look something like The End of the F**cking World. What could be more E4?,” said Roberto Troni, departing commissioning editor at C4.

The series was commissioned for C4 by Beth Willis, head of drama for C4, and Roberto Troni, commissioning editor, and for Netflix by Elizabeth Bradley and Alex Sapot.

Jonathan Entwistle and Lucy Tcherniak will direct, while Kate Ogborn and Entwistle are producer and executive producer, respectively. Executive producers for Clerkenwell Films are Petra Fried, Ed Macdonald and Andy Baker, and executive producer for Dominic Buchanan Productions is Dominic Buchanan.