Henry Cavendish

The 14th Baron of Chatsworth, an old-money aristocrat who manages the vast Cavendish estate with rigid discipline and quiet pride. Married to the formidable Lady Elisabeth Cavendish and father to Lucy Cavendish, Henry believes deeply in noble responsibility, though beneath his polished composure lies a sentimental man increasingly uneasy with what the Icarus Foundation has become.
 

Elisabeth Cavendish

The formidable Baroness of Chatsworth, wife to Lord Henry Cavendish and mother to Lucy Cavendish, renowned within the Icarus Foundation for her impeccable standards and ruthless social precision. As the hostess of tonight’s extravagant Surrealist Ball, Elisabeth intends to reassert her control over the Foundation’s elite while positioning herself as the natural successor to its presidency.
 

Lucy Cavendish

The adventurous daughter of Lord Henry Cavendish and Lady Elisabeth Cavendish, caught between aristocratic expectation and her longing for freedom. A student recently accepted into Cambridge’s History of Art program, Lucy moves through the Icarus Foundation’s glittering world feeling both privileged and trapped, torn between becoming the perfect future baroness or burning the script entirely.
 

George Thorpe

The intellectually gifted yet deeply burdened Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, married to the compassionate Catherine Thorpe and father of three children. Though publicly devoted to the ideals of the Icarus Foundation, George privately struggles with crushing self-doubt and political secrets that threaten the carefully composed life he has built.
 

Catherine Thorpe 

The beloved wife of Prime Minister George Thorpe, a celebrated philanthropist, and one of the Icarus Foundation’s most admired public figures. Raised in poverty before marrying into power, Catherine has carefully built the image of “Catherine the Good”: a woman utterly devoted to using public perception to change the world for the better, whatever it takes.

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Alexander Windsor

The reckless Duke of Kent and ninth in line to the British throne, infamous within aristocratic circles for his scandals and complete disregard for royal decorum. Charismatic and dangerously self-destructive, Alexander drifts through the Icarus Foundation as both an entertaining disgrace and a man who sees through the hypocrisy of the elite more clearly than most.

 

Marigold MacArthur

A respected Justice of the UK Supreme Court and one of the Icarus Foundation’s most intellectually formidable members. Resilient and deeply pragmatic, Marigold guards her private life with fierce secrecy, concealing complicated emotional entanglements beneath the composed authority that made her one of the nation’s most powerful judges.

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Leopold Bernstein

A feared business magnate and one of the wealthiest men in Europe, notorious for the ruthless empire he built through extraction and absolute control. Openly contemptuous of charity, Leopold treats the Icarus Foundation as a battlefield for dominance rather than philanthropy, masking a deeply buried obsession with power and the approval of the mother he could never satisfy.

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Clementine Spectra

An elegant and highly sought-after escort within the Icarus Foundation’s inner circles, known for her discretion and uncanny ability to navigate rooms filled with power. Frequently seen accompanying Leopold Bernstein to Foundation events, Clementine hides a deeply guarded inner life beneath her polished composure, quietly observing the corruption and contradictions of the elite world around her.

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Robert Hensen

A visionary business magnate whose companies revolutionized nuclear energy and aerospace technology, making him one of the most powerful men in the world. Married to the aspiring actress Molly Hensen, Robert is brilliant but emotionally detached and ruthlessly utilitarian, believing humanity can only survive through radical progress and the restructuring of society itself.

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Molly Hensen

An ambitious aspiring actress and the glamorous wife of billionaire-industrialist Robert Hensen, determined to become a star in her own right rather than merely an accessory to her husband’s power. Charming yet delusional about her own talent, Molly moves through the Icarus Foundation desperate for recognition, clinging to her friendships with celebrities and intellectuals while quietly fearing she may never truly escape the background. 

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Jasmine Thompson

A legendary and notoriously volatile film star, celebrated as one of the greatest actresses of her generation for her raw, emotionally devastating performances. Married to fellow actor Felix Thompson and fiercely devoted to her younger sister Cecilia Jones, Jasmine hides profound self-destruction beneath her glamour, navigating fame, addiction, scandal and dangerous emotional entanglements with theatrical intensity.
 

Felix Thompson

A wildly famous Hollywood leading man whose charm and tabloid scandals made him one of the most recognizable actors of his generation. Married to the legendary actress Jasmine Thompson and locked in a volatile open marriage defined by jealousy and co-dependency, Felix masks profound insecurity and addiction beneath effortless charisma, terrified the world may one day realize he was never as talented as the woman beside him.
 

Lorelei

A notorious avant-garde painter whose raw, violent work and self-destructive lifestyle made her one of the most infamous figures in the British art world. Hedonistically, Lorelei drifts through the Icarus Foundation as both celebrated genius and living scandal, often accompanied by the disgraced royal Alexander Windsor, her muse and favourite catastrophe.
 

Norbert Burke
The brilliant private banker and financial architect behind the Icarus Foundation’s vast wealth, trusted to manage fortunes and secrets for some of the most powerful people in the world. Calculating and deeply wounded by class insecurity, Norbert hides a ruthless instinct for survival beneath his quiet professionalism, while remaining haunted by his lost relationship and consumed by a dangerous secret affair.

 

Francesca Adkins

A ruthless businesswoman and former New York crime boss who transformed a criminal empire into an international corporate machine, determined to reinvent herself as a legitimate political force within the Icarus Foundation. Fiercely devoted to her husband Victor Adkins, Francesca combines brutal survival instincts with genuine ambition to leave behind a better legacy, even as whispers of her violent past continue to follow her into every ballroom and boardroom.

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Victor Adkins

The seductive and deeply self-destructive husband of Francesca Adkins, a former Brooklyn gangster who traded the violence of the streets for the suffocating luxury of high society. Beneath his effortless charm and glamorous appearance, Victor drifts through the Icarus Foundation in a haze of addiction and dangerous impulses, secretly trapped between his devotion to Francesca and his destructive tendencies.

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Jennifer Wilson

A fiercely principled conservative politician and former prime ministerial candidate who built her career on faith, family values and moral conviction. Respected for her integrity and relentless discipline, Jennifer remains deeply conflicted beneath her righteous public image, secretly struggling with her forbidden relationship and the growing fear that the life she preaches can never truly be her own.
 

Edmund Sturgis

The compassionate and highly respected Bishop of Durham, renowned within both the Church and the Icarus Foundation for his open-minded theology and deeply personal approach to spiritual guidance. Beneath his warm authority and devotion to helping others lies a dangerously complicated private life, as Edmund quietly entangles himself in the emotional and moral crises of the Foundation’s elite, convinced that compassion sometimes matters more than doctrine.

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Karen Silverman

A deeply influential media mogul who controls much of Britain’s press through blackmail, buried scandals and carefully manufactured narratives. Openly gay and fiercely intelligent, she moves through the Icarus Foundation as both protector and threat, privately unravelling beneath the weight of the secrets she keeps, her forbidden affair and the growing temptation to destroy the corrupt empire she helped build.

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Gwendolyn "Winnie" Spencer

A wildly famous American socialite and heiress to the vast Spencer oil fortune, renowned for her scandals and magnetic presence within elite society. Twin sister to the more restrained Birdie Spencer and frequently seen on the arm of actor Felix Thompson, Winnie thrives on glamour and chaos, masking deep insecurity and possessive obsession beneath her dazzling public persona.

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Bridget "Birdie" Spencer

A sharp and highly strategic heiress to the Spencer oil fortune, balancing elite social status with a growing reputation as a serious businesswoman within the Icarus Foundation. Twin sister to the chaotic Winnie Spencer, Birdie hides fierce ambition and profound emotional vulnerability beneath her polished composure and carefully controlled image.

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Virgil Faus

The brilliant General Counsel of the Icarus Foundation, serving as the legal architect behind its vast network of influence, corruption and concealed power. Calculating and obsessed with control, Virgil moves through elite society with terrifying precision, maintaining ruthless loyalty to the Foundation while harbouring an increasingly dangerous fixation.

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Cecilia Jones

A Nobel Prize-winning neurologist whose groundbreaking research on split-brain cognition transformed the scientific understanding of consciousness and the human mind. Younger sister to legendary actress Jasmine Thompson and the guest of honour at the Icarus Foundation’s surrealist ball, Cecilia is deeply uncomfortable with fame, preferring the controlled certainty of science to the dangerous emotional chaos surrounding the Foundation’s elite.

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Eleanor Davenport

A powerful London madam and former escort who built an elite empire of discretion and carefully guarded secrets beneath the polished surface of high society. Fiercely loyal and deeply protective of the people she considers hers, Eleanor moves through the Icarus Foundation as both glamorous outsider and dangerous insider, carrying the private confidences of politicians, aristocrats and billionaires alike.

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Connor Kingsley

The cynical but deeply principled Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, commanding Britain’s largest police force while waging a constant war against corruption and political compromise. Haunted by the collapse of his family and the suicide of his ex-wife, Connor hides profound loneliness beneath his hard-edged professionalism, while carrying on a dangerous affair that threatens to consume him entirely.

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Nathaniel Van Dyck

A rebellious billionaire philanthropist and heir to the vast Van Dyck fortune, famous for rejecting the traditions of the elite world he was born into while using his wealth to fund radical charitable projects and public activism after the traumatic car crash that killed both of his parents when he was eighteen. Beneath his arrogance and carefully cultivated image as a golden-hearted troublemaker, Nathaniel is deeply insecure and desperate to be loved for who he is rather than the myth built around his name.

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Isaac Vanderbergh (played by one of the organisers)

The President of the Icarus Foundation, a reclusive architect of influence who secretly reshaped the organization into a vast machine of invisible power and control. Raised by his abusive uncle Hector after the murder of his parents during a home invasion, Isaac became paranoid and emotionally fractured, sacrificing friendships and morality itself in pursuit of absolute authority over the Foundation and the elite families orbiting it.


The gender of some characters may be liable to change after casting.