Dope Girls is not your grandmas historical drama (unless of course, your grandma has lived a life, has good taste in TV, and frankly, could do with a bit more respect and a bit less condescension from people assuming that she wont be able to watch anything that isnt presented by Alan Titchmarsh). To try again then, Dope Girls is no Downton Abbey. It might be set in the same time period, but this tale of Soho women dancing with danger, death and well, other dancers in the nightclubs where they work is a world away from the genteel intrigues of the Earl of Grantham.With a cast including actors from the US, Australia and the UK, heres whos playing who in BBC Ones new Saturday night series.Eliza Scanlen as Violet DaviesViolet is a new recruit to the Metropolitan police service hoping to be chosen for The Female Experiment in which women were first made officers in the UK. Shes tough, alone and has nothing to lose, which makes her a dangerous prospect.Shes played by Australian actor Eliza Scanlen, whose breakout roles came in HBOs 2018 adaptation of Gillian Flynns Sharp Objects, and in Greta Gerwigs 2019 feature film Little Women, in which Scanlen played second-to-youngest March sister Beth. Shes recently appeared opposite Doctor Whos Ncuti Gatwa in this years National Theatre production of The Importance of Being Earnest.Julianne Nicholson as Kate GallowayKate is cruelly forced to find her own way after she loses her job, and has to go to extreme lengths to provide a living for her and her teenage daughter Evie, a clever girl with the potential to be among the first women in the UK to go to university.Shes played by US actor Julianne Nicholson, whos currently appearing as the wealthy Sinatra in Disney/Hulu political thriller Paradise (which has just been renewed for a second season). Shes known for Law & Order, The Outsider, having played Esther in Boardwalk Empire, Lillian in Masters of Sex and Lorri in the first season of Kate Winslet-starring crime drama Mare of Easttown.Umi Myers as Billie CassidyBillie is a Soho nightclub dancer who lives a bohemian, drink and drug-fuelled lifestyle with her singer friend Eddie Cobb. Shes played by Umi Myers, a recent graduate of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, with previous stage parts and an appearance in Bob Marley: One Love. Dope Girls is Myers first television lead role.Geraldine James as Isabella SalucciThe matriarch of the fearsome Salucci crime family, Isabella is a ruthless survivor whos held her clan together through the War and much more. Shes played by Geraldine James, a familiar face on screen and stage whos had a long and healthy career going back to the late 1970s. To some TV viewers, shell always be indivisible from the part of Sarah in The Jewel in the Crown, to others, shell be best recognised as Rose from Band of Gold, Milner in Channel 4s Utopia, Mrs Hudson in the Guy Ritchie Sherlock Holmes films, and Marissa in Anne With an E, to name just a few.Dustin Demri-Burns as Damaso SalucciA Salucci son, Damaso is a member of a powerful Soho crime family, and has a terrifying brutal side. Hes played by Dustin Demri-Burns, whos well known for comedy roles in Cardinal Burns, Stath Lets Flats, GameFace and Am I Being Unreasonable?, but has an equally healthy career in dramas with a comedic edge from The Great to Slow Horses, Britannia, Sweetpea and The Decameron.Ian Bonar as Sgt Frank TurnerSgt Turner is helping to run The Female Experiment, which saw the UKs first female police officers. Hes a complicated man who doesnt wield his power well, and makes an early enemy of Violet. Hes played by Ian Bonar, who recently appeared opposite Peter Capaldi in Apple TV+s Criminal Record, as well as roles across various TV genres, from I May Destroy You to New Blood, Vera and many more.Join our mailing listGet the best of Den of Geek delivered right to your inbox!Fiona Button as Sophie Asquith-GoreThe wife of a wealthy and important government minister, and the mother to Evies friend Alice, Sophie is grieving the brother she lost in the war, and thinks that she can still speak to him via a medium. Shes played by actor-director Fiona Button, whos known for the role of Rose Defoe in Abi Morgans legal drama The Split, and was recently seen as Denise in series three of Industry, as well as in Grantchester, Out of Her Mind, and plenty of theatre productions.Nabhaan Rizwan as Silas HuxleyMedium and occultist Silus Huxley takes money from the wealthy to help them contact their dead. Hes played by Nabhaan Rizwan, who recently played Dionysus in Netflixs KAOS, as well as appearing opposite his brother Mawaan Rizwan in his sitcom Juice, and in the US playing Frank in Station Eleven, after his breakout role in 2018s BBC crime drama Informer. Will Keen as Frederick Asquith-GoreA powerful government minister whos set on rooting out the rot in Londons seedy nightclubs, Frederick Asquith-Gore is played by screen and stage actor Will Keen (incidentally, the father of Logan and His Dark Materials Dafne Keen), who recently appeared in BBC drama Wolf Hall as Thomas Cranmer, as well as playing Lord Belzagar in the second season of Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, Norfolk in My Lady Jane, the Queens private secretary in The Crown, and David in Ridley Road, as well as appearing in feature film Operation Mincemeat and more.ALSO APPEARING Musical stage and screen actor Michael Duke as nightclub singer Eddie Cobb. The Outrun and The Powers Eilidh Fisher as Kates daughter Evie Galloway. The Bay, The Reckoning, True Detective and Strikes Eloise Thomas as Evies schoolfriend Alice Asquith-Gore. The Sixth Commandments, Ghosts and Lead Balloons Anna Crilly as butcher Anne Sanders. Bridgerton and The Bastard Son and the Devil Himselfs Priya Kansara as nightclub dancer Lily Lee. Heartstoppers Ben Hope, aka Sebastian Croft as nightclub owner Silvio Salucci. The Newsreader and The Inheritances Rory Fleck Byrne as returned soldier Luca Salucci.Dope Girls airs on BBC One and streams on BBC iPlayer.