‘The Diplomat’ Netflix Series Release Date & What We Know So Far

Netflix's buzzy new political thriller series starring Keri Russell touches down on April 20th, 2023.

Kasey Moore · @kasey__moore
March 16th, 2023 - 10:37 am ET

The Diplomat is headed to Netflix in April 2023. Here’s the lowdown on everything we know about the TV thriller The Diplomat coming soon to Netflix.

We exclusively revealed the project on January 20th, 2022, with Netflix officially announcing the series just a week later.

Eight hour-long episodes are confirmed for the first season of the show with all episodes arriving on Netflix globally on April 20th, 2023.

The series is described as a political thriller in the US London Embassy. It’s about a career diplomat landing a new role as the ambassador in London, but that has huge implications for her work and personal life. This is all while an international crisis is unfolding in the background.

The show’s plot has been subject to controversy and buzz amongst U.S. diplomats.

Who’s behind The Diplomat on Netflix?

Deborah Cahn – Picture: Writers Guild of America

Deborah Cahn will serve as the showrunner and creator of the project. In addition, Deborah Cahn is now among the creators who have overall deals with Netflix.

Cahn has been involved in many beloved shows over the last two decades, including the Showtime series Homeland, the FX limited series Fosse/Verdon, and worked on the ABC series Grey’s Anatomy.

Describing the show, Cahn said:

“THE DIPLOMAT is a show about the transcendence and torture of long-term relationships. It’s hard to keep a relationship going, be it a marriage or a military alliance. We change, the world changes, and yet we want these relationships to go on forever. It’s a show about a bunch of good people doing their best to keep their global and personal partnerships intact without killing each other.”

British director Simon Cellan Jones is attached to the project. The distinguished director has been involved in several TV projects and movies. On the movie side, he’s notably directed Our Friends in the North and Some Voices. Meanwhile, on the TV side, he was involved with the Apple TV+ series See, HBO’s Ballers, and USA Network’s Shooter.

Sebastian Gibbs is the studio executive at Netflix spearheading the project, who previously worked at MRC Television before moving to Netflix in March 2020.

Keri Russell (who also stars), Janice Williams, Jones, and Cahn serve as executive producers.

Let’s now break down all the writers and directors attached to the project thus far:

Episode 101 – Written by: Debora Cahn
Episode 102 – Written by: Peter Noah
Episode 103 – Written by: Debora Cahn
Episode 104 – Written by: Amanda Johnson0Zetterström
Episode 105 – Teleplay by: Mia Chung, Anna Hagen and Debora Cahn
Episode 106 – Written by: Anna Hagen
Episode 107 – Written by: Peter Noah
Episode 108 – Written by: Debora Cahn

Directing on the series are Simon Cellan Jones, Andrew Bernstein, Liza Johnson, and Alex Graves.

Who is starring in Netflix’s The Diplomat?

Pictured (L-R): Keri Russell, Rufus Sewell, and Ali Ahn

Keri Russell will star as Katie, the ambassador the story revolves around. She becomes the ambassador reluctantly because her heart is in humanitarian work. There are also rumors that she’s being eyed for the role of Vice President.

Russell is perhaps best known for playing Elizabeth Jennings in The Americans in recent years. Beyond that, Russell was featured in Dark Skies, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, and 2007’s Waitress.

Rufus Sewell is tapped to play Hal Wyler in the series. Wyler is the husband of Katie and was a former ambassador but is now reduced to being on the sidelines.

The British actor is perhaps best known for 1998’s Dark City and 2006’s The Illusionist. More recently he played Charles in Old for Universal and is also set to star in the Netflix series Jigsaw.

Ali Ahn will play the role of Eidra Graham, the CIA Chief of the Station in London. Described as effective and a realist and manages the sometimes rocky relationship between the CIA and MI6.

Rounding out the cast for the series (most of which are announced in late April 2022) includes:

Penny Downie (Jackie, Invictus) as Frances Munning
Rory Kinnear (Black Mirror)
Pearl Mackie (Doctor Who) as Alysse
Michael McKean (Better Call Saul)
Celia Imrie (The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel)
Bijan Daneshmand (House of the Dragon) as Rasoul Shahin
David Gyasi (Interstellar, Cloud Atlas)
Reza Diako (Tehran) as Basir
Nana Mensah
Jess Chanliau as Ronnie
Andre Lillis as Wilson
Ato Essandoh as Stuart Heyford
Miguel Sandoval
Christine Prouty as Emma – US Embassy Ambassador

Cast grid for The Diplomat

Where is The Diplomat in production?

Filming began in mid-April 2022 and, according to production schedules seen by What’s on Netflix, was set to conclude in September or October 2022 but almost certainly will run beyond that date.

As the show is set in the United Kingdom, filming is predominantly taking place. It’s unclear whether the show is filming at Netflix’s Shepperton Studios.

Netflix has confirmed that most of the filming took place in London and the Cotswolds in the United Kindom and even some taking place in Paris.

One casting call suggests that filming was be taking place into November 2022. In addition, it suggests the series filming will also take place in Île-de-France.

Rufus Sewell shared a couple of pictures while filming for the new Netflix series. The second picture came with the caption: “My new look. Grizzled with a just of dash of claret.”