<P> The series was commissioned as Black Earth Rising in 2017, and was known as The Forgiving Earth for a time during production before reverting to its original title by April 2018 . During a night shoot of a car stunt scene in Ghana, camera operator Mark Milsome was killed . </P> <P> The production visited a private residence in Sevenoaks, Kent for some of the filming, where the swimming pool doubled for a Spa hotel in Paris . </P> <Ul> <Li> Michaela Coel as Kate Ashby; a 28 - year - old Rwandan - born legal investigator . </Li> <Li> John Goodman as Michael Ennis; an American - born divorced barrister living and working in the UK . </Li> <Li> Tamara Tunie as Eunice Clayton; US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs . </Li> <Li> Noma Dumezweni as Alice Munezero; a Rwandan government official and former General in the Rwandan Patriotic Army . </Li> <Li> Harriet Walter as Eve Ashby, Kate's adoptive mother, and an international prosecution barrister . </Li> <Li> Danny Sapani as General Simon Nyamoya; a former Tutsi corporal who helped bring the Rwandan Genocide to an end . </Li> <Li> Tyrone Huggins as Patrice Ganimana; a Rwandan Hutu who helped implement the Rwandan Genocide . </Li> <Li> Ronald Guttman as Jacques Antoine Barré; a former Advisor to the Élysée Palace between 1987 - 1994 . </Li> <Li> Lucian Msamati as David Runihura; Special Advisor to the President of Rwanda . </Li> <Li> Aure Atika as Sophie Barré; daughter of Jacques Antoine Barré and CEO of Barré Resources . </Li> <Li> Abena Ayivor as Bibi Mundanzi; the overwhelmingly well - liked third - term President of Rwanda and adoptive sister of Alice Munezero . </Li> <Li> Malou Coindreau as Hana Ennis; Michael's daughter and a former financial analyst, who has been in a coma for three years . </Li> <Li> Michael Gould as Harper Hopkinson; a book illustrator and Hana Ennis's stepfather . </Li> <Li> Hugo Blick as Blake Gaines; a successful defense barrister and rival of Ennis, hired to defend Patrice Ganimana . </Li> <Li> Kathryn Hunter as Capi Petridis; the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court . </Li> <Li> Serge Hazanavicius as Marc Previeau; a senior French Juge d'instruction based in Paris </Li> <Li> Emmanuel Imani as Florence Karamera; a mysterious man aiding and protecting Kate </Li> <Li> Julian Glover as Mark Viner; a retired barrister and Eve Ashby's former boss . </Li> </Ul> <Li> Michaela Coel as Kate Ashby; a 28 - year - old Rwandan - born legal investigator . </Li>

Who sings the title track to black earth rising