The Plot Against America: All you need to know about TV adaptation of Philip Roth’s book coming soon to Sky Atlantic in the UK

American critics have called it "disturbingly relevant... difficult, but essential viewing."

And now the TV adaptation of The Plot Against America is finally making its way across the pond on Sky Atlantic and NOW TV this month.

Based on the Philip Roth novel, the dystopian drama is set in an alternate reality and is written and executive produced by David Simon and Ed Burns (The Wire).

Here, we reveal everything we know about the UK release of The Plot Against America.

When is The Plot Against America shown in the UK?

The Plot Against America premiered on HBO in the United States on March 16, 2020.

You’ll be able to watch it in the UK from Tuesday, July 14 at 9pm, on Sky Atlantic.

NOW TV customers can watch the Box Set in full from the same date, with the NOW TV Entertainment Pass.

The limited series consists of six episodes.

What is The Plot Against America about?

Based on the acclaimed 2004 novel of the same name by Philip Roth, The Plot Against America is set in an alternate American history during World War II.

It centres on a working-class Jewish family in New Jersey who are forced to watch the political rise of Charles Lindbergh, an aviation hero and xenophobic populist. 

Lindbergh becomes president, defeating Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1940, and threatens to turn the country towards fascism. 

Roth, who died in 2018, based the book on his own experiences of growing up in a Jewish family in Newark, New Jersey.

Who’s in the cast of The Plot Against America?

Zoe Kazan (Ruby Sparks, The Big Sick) plays Elizabeth 'Bess' Levin, a mother and homemaker, who fears for the future as she tries to protect her family from an escalating political climate. 

Morgan Spector (Allegiance, Homeland) plays Bess’s husband Herman Levin, an insurance agent who tries to maintain a sense of normalcy in his family and friends' lives.

Winona Ryder (Stranger Things, Little Women) plays Bess’s unmarried sister Evelyn Finkel, who’s hungry to find her own place in life after caring for her mother for 10 years.

Anthony Boyle (Tolkein, The Lost City of Z) plays Herman’s angry and intelligent orphaned nephew, Alvin Levin, whose political differences with his family drive him from street crime to the battlefields of Europe and back.

John Turturro (The Big Lebowski, The Night Of) plays Rabbi Lionel Bengelsdorf, a widowed, conservative rabbi from Charleston, South Carolina. 

The main cast also includes Azhy Robertson (Marriage Story), Caleb Malis (Blood Widow), Michael Kostroff (The Wire) and David Krumholtz (Numb3rs), while Ben Cole (Sense8) appears in a recurring role as Charles Lindbergh.

Who was Charles Lindbergh?

Charles Lindbergh was a real historical figure. He was born in Detroit, Michigan in 1902, the son of a congressman father and teacher mother 

David Simon, who created The Plot Against America alongside Ed Burns, called him a "great pilot, aviator and national hero, who was politically an isolationist and affirmed anti-semite” in a video released by HBO.

In the years before the United States entered World War II, Lindbergh became a vocal opponent of the country’s involvement in the conflict - opposing not only the intervention of the US, but also the provision of aid to the United Kingdom.

As the United States edged closer to war, many began to denounce the former hero as an anti-semite and a traitor, according to HISTORY.com.

The Plot Against America - watch the full trailer

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The Plot Against America Box Set is available to watch on Sky Atlantic with the NOW TV Entertainment Pass from Tuesday, July 14.