Matthew Goode and Teresa Palmer star in the first teaser trailer for A Discovery of Witches, the British TV adaptation of Deborah Harkness’ hugely successful novel. This historical-fantasy yarn was released in 2011, kicking off a best-selling series known as the All Souls trilogy, which continued with Shadow of Night in 2012 and concluded with The Book of Life in 2014.

The book trilogy was originally touted for the big screen treatment, with Warner Bros picking up the rights. However, that film never materialized and the rights reverted back to Harkness. Ultimately, the British pay-TV broadcaster Sky One swooped in, bought the rights, and put a television adaptation into production under the guidance of Jane Tranter, Julie Gardner, and their Bad Wolf company (best known for its work on the Russell T Davies era of Doctor Who). Harkness serves as an executive producer and has written several episodes. Kate Brooke is the showrunner.

This trailer provides fans of the books with their first proper look at how A Discovery of Witches will translate to the screen. It is only a very brief teaser, but it should be enough to get the hype levels raised among Harkness’ sizeable fan base.

The first teaser trailer for A Discovery of Witches plays out the basic first act beats that fans of the books will be familiar with. Hacksaw Ridge‘s Teresa Palmer plays the protagonist Diana Bishop, a history professor at Oxford University with magic in her blood. She has tried to hide from her witching ancestry, but by accidentally unearthing an ancient manuscript, Diana sets events in motion that force her to address her heritage. Witches, daemons and vampires all have roles to play in the series.

The Imitation Game actor Matthew Goode portrays one of the vampires. His character, Matthew Clairmont, was born in France in 500 AD and now works as a biochemist in Oxford. When Diana first uses her powers, Matthew is drawn to both her and the aforementioned important manuscript. Over the course of the three books, a forbidden romance arc plays out between Diana and Matthew.

Also among the cast are Doctor Who’s River Song actress Alex Kingston and Game of Thrones’ Alliser Throne actor Owen Teale. It should be fun to see Harkness’ weird and wonderful characters come to life on screen. As of yet, though, it isn’t clear which network or streaming service will broadcast the series in the States.

A Discovery of Witches debuts on Sky One, in the UK, in early 2018.