Spanish public channel La 2 will premiere the television adaptation of Elena Ferrante's Neapolitan Novels, My Brilliant Friend, on Sunday, August 23 at 10:00 pm.
The series, originally produced for Italian broadcaster RAI and American network HBO, will air in full on Radiotelevisión Española (RTVE). The broadcast forms part of a dedicated programming strategy by the Spanish public broadcaster to feature high-profile European screen fictions.
RTVE confirmed that viewers in Spain will be able to follow the entire narrative across its run on Sunday evenings. The European drama push will also include upcoming broadcasts on La 1, such as the drama series Toda una mujer.
European Fiction Lineup on Spanish Public Television
Directed by Italian filmmaker Saverio Costanzo, the television drama brings Elena Ferrante's four-book saga to the screen. The plot opens with an adult Elena reflecting on her life after the sudden and unexplained disappearance of her lifelong friend, Lila.
The narrative begins in the 1950s in a working-class neighborhood of Naples, where the two young girls of contrasting temperaments first cross paths. Over six decades, the story examines a complex relationship marked by loyalty, rivalry, jealousy, mutual fascination, and personal struggle against a harsh, changing social backdrop.
Multi-Generational Cast and Naples Setting
To chronicle the passage of time across sixty years, the production employs different actors across three distinct stages of the main characters' lives. Elisa Del Genio and Ludovica Nasti portray Elena and Lila as children in fifties Naples.
As the characters grow into adolescence and young adulthood, the roles transition to Margherita Mazzucco and Gaia Girace. In the later stages of maturity, actors Alba Rohrwacher and Irene Maiorino take over the primary dramatic roles.
The supporting cast features several actors familiar to Spanish public television audiences, including Dora Romano and Antonio Milo. The production relies on detailed period reconstruction, cinematic photography, and an underlying tone of mystery and emotional tension.
