Among the many projects and ongoing partnerships between top European broadcaster TF1 and Netflix comes an ambitious new WWII period drama based on the best-selling works of Ken Follett. Here is everything we know about the upcoming Jackdaws miniseries co-production.
Many shows have been ordered by TF1 over the past few years, and Netflix has helped co-finance and globally broadcast a handful of them (including the short-lived daily soap experiment, Tout Pour La Lumière). Now, Camille Treiner, the co-writer behind Women At War (Les Combattantes)—a highly-rated project for TF1—and production company Empreinte Digitale (Marianne, Furies) have teamed up for a book-to-screen adaptation of Ken Follett’s 2001 epic Jackdaws. The show will premiere first on TF1 before launching globally on Netflix.
What is Jackdaws about?
The show will follow a network of five French women, all civilians, tasked with infiltrating a Nazi castle housing a key German communications hub and dismantling it right before the Allies launch their D-Day offensive in Normandy. The novel takes place over a handful of days in May 1944, giving the spy group only one week to prepare, offering the potential for a gripping real-time period thriller.
Who is in the cast and crew of Jackdaws?
As is usual with these highly ambitious projects, TF1 has assembled an all-star cast of well-known faces from its own series and French cinema.
From L to R: Lina El Arabi, Mathilde Seigner, Laetitia Casta, Michaël Youn, Bérangère McNeese. Cr: TF1.
- Laetitia Casta will play the mastermind of the spy network, widow Betty Clairet. A former international supermodel, Casta has had numerous leading roles in cinema and television over the past two decades; she has been mainly seen in French comedies and dramas on the big screen, including L’Homme Fidèle (A Faithful Man) by Louis Garrel, and Arbitrage. She has fewer television credits to her name, making this somewhat of a casting coup.
- Mathilde Seigner is one of the most recognizable stars on French television, having starred in many TF1 productions, including the first season of Sam and the adaptation of the BBC show Criminal Justice. On the Netflix side, she can be seen in a supporting role in Flunked.
- Lina El Arabi is an up-and-coming French actress who can be seen as the lead in Netflix’s Furies, which recently returned for a sophomore season. Like Jackdaws, it is also produced by Empreinte Digitale for the platform. Before that, she was seen in Family Business.
- Mickaël Youn is one of the top comedians in France, with an extensive list of performances in both movies and television. The veteran has successfully fronted many TF1 shows in recent decades, including the French version of Red Band Society, and the light high-concept procedural Flashback, which recently returned for a second season on the French broadcaster.
The cast is rounded out by Bérangère McNeese, Alexandre Brasseur, Stéphane de Groodt, and Jochen Hägele.
On the writing side, Camille Treiner will be joined by Mathieu Missoffe (Criminal: France) and Chloé Marçais (Munch, The Wrong Mans France). The 6-episode show will be directed by Mona Bauer.
Where is Jackdaws being filmed?
The series is currently shooting in France through late July of 2026; locations include Normandy, Paris, and the Ile-de-France area. The production will shoot in various castles, and according to Variety, will pay close attention to period production design.
What to watch on Netflix while you wait
If you’re itching for some gripping historical drama or French thrillers while you wait for Jackdaws, Netflix has plenty to keep you occupied:
- Women at War (Les Combattantes): Since Camille Treiner is penning Jackdaws, why not check out her previous hit? This series follows four women navigating the devastating consequences of WWI in France.
- Transatlantic: A stunning period drama about an international rescue network in 1940s Marseille helping refugees escape occupied France.
- All the Light We Cannot See: The recent limited series adaptation of Anthony Doerr’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, focusing on a blind French girl and a German soldier whose paths collide during WWII.
When can we expect Jackdaws on Netflix?
It is a given that the show will be launched somewhere in 2027, given the production timetable, first on TF1 and next on Netflix.
Did you read and enjoy Ken Follett’s Jackdaws? Are you looking forward to this adaptation? Let us know in the comments down below!
