The Underground Railroad on Amazon Prime Video: What is it about? Who stars in it? When is it streaming? All you need to know

The Underground Railroad is next on our list of must-see series, and as one of Amazon Prime Video’s most exciting drama releases of the year, it boasts Barry Jenkins as director and Brad Pitt as executive producer.

Following the secret railroad of the 1800s that transported Black slaves making their way to freedom from America’s South, the series follows one young woman as she makes a desperate escape only to find herself tracked by a bounty hunter.

Find out all you need to know about the storyline, who you can see starring in it, and when it’s available to start streaming.

When is The Underground Railroad available to watch?

The 10-episode series will begin streaming on Amazon Prime Video from Friday, May 14.

What is The Underground Railroad about?

New period drama series The Underground Railroad is set in 1800s America, a racially divided country where one young Black woman is making a dangerous bid for freedom from the South.

Cora Randall has managed to escape a Georgia plantation and is headed for the fabled railroad - a network of engineers, conductors, tracks and tunnels under Southern soil all pulling together to grant slaves their freedom.

But as Cora travels the underground railroad, she’s tracked every step of the way by bounty hunter Ridgeway, whose single-minded mission is to return her to the plantation – especially as her mother, Mabel, is the only escaped slave ever to have evaded his grasp.

Her journey sees her grapple with the legacy of having been left behind by her mother, as Cora struggles to make a life for herself that she had never thought was possible.

The series is from Barry Jenkins, director of the Oscar-winning film If Beale Street Could Talk, and a team of executive producers which includes Brad Pitt.

Who stars in it?

Starring as escaped slave Cora Randall is Thuso Mbedu, who has previously starred in award-winning South African TV series Is’Thunzi.

Mbedu is joined by Aaron Pierre (Britannia) as Caesar who rides the railroad with her and Joel Edgerton (Loving, The Great Gatsby) as bounty hunter Ridgeway.

The cast also features Chase W. Dillon (The First Wives Club) as Homer, William Jackson Harper (The Good Place) as Royal, and Sheila Atim (Harlots) as Cora’s mother Mabel.

The Underground Railroad is available on Amazon Prime Video from Friday, May 14