# Possession (British TV series)
**Possession** is a five-part British supernatural thriller television series created and written by [Karla Crome](https://www.edgepedia.org/karla-crome) and directed by Storm Saulter, released as a Sky Original on Sky and the streaming service NOW on 6 August 2026. It stars [Gugu Mbatha-Raw](https://www.edgepedia.org/gugu-mbatha-raw) as Claudia, a mixed-race British lawyer who travels to Jamaica to challenge an inheritance claim on a former slave plantation, and it has also been known under the working title [Inheritance](https://www.edgepedia.org/inheritance).[1](https://www.skygroup.sky/en-gb/article/official-trailer-gugu-mbatha-raw-stars-in-sky-original-supernatural-thriller-possession)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Format | Five-part limited series of hour-long episodes, average runtime 47 minutes[2](https://www.sky.com/watch/possession) • [3](https://www.tvmaze.com/shows/92743/possession) |
| Release | All episodes available 6 August 2026 on Sky and NOW[1](https://www.skygroup.sky/en-gb/article/official-trailer-gugu-mbatha-raw-stars-in-sky-original-supernatural-thriller-possession) |
| Creator / director | Written by Karla Crome (her debut as sole screenwriter); directed by Jamaican film-maker Storm Saulter (Better Mus' Come, Sprinter)[2](https://www.sky.com/watch/possession) • [4](https://www.vogue.co.uk/article/possession-tv-show) |
| Production | Snowed-In Productions in association with Sky Studios; aired on Sky Atlantic[2](https://www.sky.com/watch/possession) • [5](https://www.avforums.com/reviews/possession-sky-tv-show-review.23734/) |
| Lead cast | Gugu Mbatha-Raw (Claudia), Jonny Lee Miller (Oliver Connaught), Sheldon Shepherd (Cudjoe East), Bel Powley (Charlotte)[2](https://www.sky.com/watch/possession) |
| Setting | Bristol in the UK and Jamaica, with a dual timeline spanning the present day and the 1700s[2](https://www.sky.com/watch/possession) • [6](https://theweek.com/culture-life/tv-radio/possession-review) |
| Age rating | Rated 15 for the series, except episode three, which is rated 18[2](https://www.sky.com/watch/possession) |
## Premise
Claudia, an ambitious young bi-racial lawyer working for a Bristol firm, is sent to Jamaica to challenge an inheritance claim filed by a local resident, Cudjoe East, against Oliver Connaught, the son of a wealthy white aristocrat who has cut his only son out of his will and left his £50 million estate to Cudjoe, a near stranger.[2](https://www.sky.com/watch/possession) • [6](https://theweek.com/culture-life/tv-radio/possession-review) Claudia is chosen for the job partly because she has a Jamaican mother, and she arrives expecting to uncover a fraud.[6](https://theweek.com/culture-life/tv-radio/possession-review)
The disputed property turns out to be Hope Hill, the Connaught family's former plantation, the same ominous house that has haunted Claudia's dreams.[2](https://www.sky.com/watch/possession) When she confronts Cudjoe and demands he renounce the estate, he tells her he is a roughly 300-year-old formerly enslaved eyewitness to the brutality of slavery who is claiming the property as reparations.[4](https://www.vogue.co.uk/article/possession-tv-show) • [7](https://observer.co.uk/culture/tv/article/plantation-horror-possession-is-tvs-answer-to-sinners) [Supernatural](https://www.edgepedia.org/supernatural) forces are at work: images from Claudia's nightmares begin appearing in real life, and the spirits that locals believe infuse the land grow restless.[6](https://theweek.com/culture-life/tv-radio/possession-review)
The story unfolds across two timelines. One follows the present-day inheritance dispute; the other goes back to the 1700s, when Hope Hill was worked by enslaved people under the increasingly cruel rule of Oliver's ancestors.[6](https://theweek.com/culture-life/tv-radio/possession-review) In the past strand, Charlotte, the daughter of the aristocratic British family, returns to Hope Hill as a new mother and takes supernatural control of the enslaved community to boost profits.[8](https://www.kenkenreviews.com/possession/) In the finale, trapped at Hope Hill, Claudia must embrace both her British and her Jamaican heritage to defeat Charlotte's spirit and face the truth about the estate.[3](https://www.tvmaze.com/shows/92743/possession)
## Cast and characters
The main cast, as listed by Sky:[2](https://www.sky.com/watch/possession)
- Gugu Mbatha-Raw (Surface, Loki) as Claudia
- [Jonny Lee Miller](https://www.edgepedia.org/jonny-lee-miller) (Elementary, Trainspotting) as Oliver Connaught
- Sheldon Shepherd (Better Must Come, Bob Marley: One Love) as Cudjoe East
- [Bel Powley](https://www.edgepedia.org/bel-powley) ([A Small Light](https://www.edgepedia.org/a-small-light), The Morning Show) as Charlotte
- Nadean Rawlins as Mercy, Claudia's estranged aunt[4](https://www.vogue.co.uk/article/possession-tv-show)
- Sean Gilder as Tom McKenzie
- Oluniké Adeliyi as Patsy Dawkins
- Richard Dillane as Eugene Desfrienes
- Diveen Henry as Flora
- Jack Bandeira as Kenneth Connaught
- Shantol Jackson as Sarah
Many of the key roles are filled by Jamaican actors, a point the production treats as central to its authenticity.[4](https://www.vogue.co.uk/article/possession-tv-show)
## Themes and cultural background
The series confronts the legacy of British colonialism in Jamaica, drawing on the Gothic tradition of a haunted house while placing that house on the site of a former slave plantation.[9](https://www.flicks.com.au/features/possession-reminds-us-that-ghosts-are-scary-but-history-is-scarier/) Crome has said she aims for a tone closer to the Gothic of The Woman in White and [Jane Eyre](https://www.edgepedia.org/jane-eyre) than to straightforward horror, and the £50 million legacy frames the question of reparations for slavery.[4](https://www.vogue.co.uk/article/possession-tv-show) • [6](https://theweek.com/culture-life/tv-radio/possession-review) The show does not shy away from the brutality of plantation slavery; reviewers single out the past-timeline scenes, including one in which a woman has her tongue cut out, as more disturbing than the supernatural material.[10](https://www.theupcoming.co.uk/2026/08/05/possession-show-review/)
The horror element draws on two traditions: obeah, the spiritual system enslaved people brought from Africa to the Caribbean, and European traditions of dark magic.[4](https://www.vogue.co.uk/article/possession-tv-show) During slavery, white planters feared obeah enough to ban enslaved people from practicing it, and it remains technically a criminal offense in Jamaica today.[4](https://www.vogue.co.uk/article/possession-tv-show) The team worked with the Jamaican cultural consultant Dr L'Antoinette Osunide Stines, and the series features a Junkanoo festival, in which Cudjoe appears in the costume of the Rolling Calf, Jamaica's most famous historical demon, as well as a Nine Night, the rite marking the nine days after a death.[4](https://www.vogue.co.uk/article/possession-tv-show)
The production also carries a historical footnote that several reviewers highlight: after abolition, the British government compensated enslavers rather than enslaved people with a £20 million loan that British taxpayers only finished repaying in 2015.[7](https://observer.co.uk/culture/tv/article/plantation-horror-possession-is-tvs-answer-to-sinners) • [5](https://www.avforums.com/reviews/possession-sky-tv-show-review.23734/)
## Reception
On Rotten Tomatoes, season 1 holds a 100% Tomatometer from seven professional reviews, with fewer than 50 audience ratings recorded at the time of reporting.[11](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/possession/s01) [JustWatch](https://www.edgepedia.org/justwatch) users have given the series 5.7 out of 10 from 739 ratings.[12](https://www.justwatch.com/uk/tv-series/possession-2026)
Critics broadly praised the performances and the historical material while dividing over the horror. Lucy Mangan in The Guardian described it as a nightmarish plantation drama whose supernatural element viewers would either rate or hate.[13](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/series/tv-review/2026/aug/06/all) Barbara Ellen in [The Observer](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-observer) called it TV's answer to [Ryan Coogler](https://www.edgepedia.org/ryan-coogler)'s film Sinners, praising the fine acting and the soundtrack led by [Lila Iké](https://www.edgepedia.org/lila-ike)'s theme song Where I'm Coming From, while finding some of the political messaging clunky.[7](https://observer.co.uk/culture/tv/article/plantation-horror-possession-is-tvs-answer-to-sinners) Rebecca Nicholson in the Financial Times judged it eerie rather than scary, and Anita Singh in The Daily Telegraph warned viewers without a taste for the paranormal that the 292-year-old claimant strains belief, though she called it a powerful drama that addresses reparations.[11](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/possession/s01) • [6](https://theweek.com/culture-life/tv-radio/possession-review) The Upcoming gave it four stars, calling Crome's examination of collective trauma, heritage, and identity thoughtful and nuanced.[10](https://www.theupcoming.co.uk/2026/08/05/possession-show-review/) The AVForums review was harsher, arguing that the five-episode length left the story disastrously paced, with almost everything consequential crammed into the finale.[5](https://www.avforums.com/reviews/possession-sky-tv-show-review.23734/)
In a 2026 TechRadar interview, Mbatha-Raw said the cast saw the series as a companion to Sinners, both dealing with Afro-spiritualism, voodoo, and [Obeah](https://www.edgepedia.org/obeah), and noted critics had compared it to her 2013 film Belle; she rejected the idea of making colonial history comfortable rather than accessible.[14](https://www.techradar.com/streaming/sky-tv/possession-gugu-mbatha-raw-interview) • [15](https://www.techradar.com/streaming/sky-tv/possession-sinners-what-stars-watch)
## Availability
The series streams in the United Kingdom on [Sky Go](https://www.edgepedia.org/sky-go) and NOW, and was available in 4K on NOW.[12](https://www.justwatch.com/uk/tv-series/possession-2026) • [16](https://www.moviefone.com/tv-shows/inheritance/3FQMSDbUrkZJoBQQJ7gic7/where-to-watch/) It was not available to stream, rent, or buy in the US as of the most recent checks, and later appeared on [SkyShowtime](https://www.edgepedia.org/skyshowtime) in European markets.[16](https://www.moviefone.com/tv-shows/inheritance/3FQMSDbUrkZJoBQQJ7gic7/where-to-watch/) • [17](https://cincodias.elpais.com/smartlife/smart-tv/2026-08-26/estrenos-skyshowtime-septiembre-2026-peliculas-series-novedades.html)
## References
1. [Official trailer: Gugu Mbatha-Raw stars in Sky Original supernatural thriller Possession, Sky Group](https://www.skygroup.sky/en-gb/article/official-trailer-gugu-mbatha-raw-stars-in-sky-original-supernatural-thriller-possession)
2. [Possession, Sky.com](https://www.sky.com/watch/possession)
3. [Possession, TVmaze](https://www.tvmaze.com/shows/92743/possession)
4. [An Exclusive First Look At 'Possession', Your Next TV Obsession, British Vogue](https://www.vogue.co.uk/article/possession-tv-show)
5. [Possession (Sky) TV Show Review, AVForums](https://www.avforums.com/reviews/possession-sky-tv-show-review.23734/)
6. [Possession: Gugu Mbatha-Raw stars in powerful Jamaica-set drama, The Week](https://theweek.com/culture-life/tv-radio/possession-review)
7. [Possession review – this plantation horror is TV's answer to Sinners, The Observer](https://observer.co.uk/culture/tv/article/plantation-horror-possession-is-tvs-answer-to-sinners)
8. [Possession, KenKenReviews](https://www.kenkenreviews.com/possession/)
9. [Possession TV review: a reminder that ghosts are scary, but history is scarier, Flicks](https://www.flicks.com.au/features/possession-reminds-us-that-ghosts-are-scary-but-history-is-scarier/)
10. [Possession | Show review, The Upcoming](https://www.theupcoming.co.uk/2026/08/05/possession-show-review/)
11. [Possession: Season 1, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/possession/s01)
12. [Possession (2026) – watch tv series streaming online, JustWatch](https://www.justwatch.com/uk/tv-series/possession-2026)
13. [Possession review – a nightmarish plantation drama with a divisive paranormal twist, The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/series/tv-review/2026/aug/06/all)
14. ['It's not our job to make the audience comfortable': Gugu Mbatha-Raw interview, TechRadar](https://www.techradar.com/streaming/sky-tv/possession-gugu-mbatha-raw-interview)
15. [I asked the cast of Sky TV's Possession what would make the perfect streaming 'double bill', TechRadar](https://www.techradar.com/streaming/sky-tv/possession-sinners-what-stars-watch)
16. [Possession (2026): Where to Watch, Moviefone](https://www.moviefone.com/tv-shows/inheritance/3FQMSDbUrkZJoBQQJ7gic7/where-to-watch/)
17. [SkyShowtime viene cargado en septiembre, Cinco Días](https://cincodias.elpais.com/smartlife/smart-tv/2026-08-26/estrenos-skyshowtime-septiembre-2026-peliculas-series-novedades.html)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › Scripted television and comedy series › Drama and prestige series (individual series) › Science fiction, horror, and supernatural*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 11, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license