Grey's Anatomy star Kevin McKidd lands role in new BBC drama (2024)

Grey's Anatomy star Kevin McKidd will take a break from Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital to star in a one-off BBC drama.

McKidd is set to share the screen with Nina Toussaint-White (Bodyguard and EastEnders) in a CBBC special based on Dame Jacqueline Wilson's novel The Primrose Railway Children.

Wilson's story is a modern retelling of the classic Railway Children where the Robinson family are uprooted from their lives to move to the Scottish Highlands.

Rob (McKidd) and Sarah Robinson (Toussaint-White), along with their three children — Phoebe (Ava McCarthy), Becks (Ida Brooke) and Perry (Tylan Bailey) — face a whole new chapter in their lives as they settle into this remote community.

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The Primrose Railway Children is being adapted for the small-screen as a one-off, 90-minute special by Tom Bidwell (The Velveteen Rabbit and The Irregulars).

"Reading Tom’s brilliant script was a real joy – it captures the spirit and emotion of the original The Railway Children, a film that I loved as a child, so it was an easy decision to come back and film this in Scotland," McKidd said of the project.

"I’m always so proud and happy to come home and work with the brilliant crews and talents that Scotland overflows with. I can’t wait to step into the character of 'Rob' and retell this reimagined British classic story alongside such an exciting cast. It will be a cinematic treat for the family.”

"BBC Studios Kids and Family Productions has enjoyed a close and creative relationship with Jacqueline Wilson for many years and are thrilled to work with Tom Bidwell to bring another of her stories to the screen with such an exciting cast including Kevin and Nina, alongside tremendously exciting new youth talent," BBC Studios Kids and Family creative director Tali Walters said in a statement.

"We are proud to be making this dramatic and ambitious production in Scotland with all it offers in terms of locations and talent, and very much looking forward to sharing it with families across the UK and around the world.”

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Aside from his new BBC film, McKidd is one of several mainstay Grey's Anatomy cast members — including the returning Ellen Pompeo — returning for the medical drama's shortened, 18-episode season in September

Filming on The Primrose Railway Children will begin later this month in Glasgow, but the project doesn't have a firm CBBC release date yet.