Stags: release date, cast, plot, trailer, interview, first looks and everything you need to know

Stags on Paramount Plus follows the antics of about-to-get-married Stu played by Nico Mirallegro.
Stags on Paramount Plus follows the antics of about-to-get-married Stu played by Nico Mirallegro. (Image credit: Paramount Plus)

Stags is a Paramount Plus drama that follows a bunch of British men on a stag party, aka a bachelor party! Stag parties can be a recipe for disaster at the best of times and this drama follows a boozy week in South America that goes badly wrong. 

Starring Nico Mirallegro as charming groom-to-be Stu, the series sees him and his friends end up on a terrifying prison island run by two warring siblings. And friendships and lifelong loyalties are tested to the limit as it becomes a battle for survival. 

Stags has an impressive ensemble cast, including This Country’s Charlie Cooper, Corin Silva (SAS: Rogue Heroes) and Asim Chaudhry (People Just Do Nothing) and is directed by BAFTA-winner David Kerr, the man responsible for directing the creepy series Inside No.9. 

Here’s everything you need to know about Stags coming to Paramount Plus….

Is South America ready for the stags?

Is South America ready for the stags? (Image credit: Paramount Plus)

Stags release date

Stags is a six-part series will launch with the fist two epiosdes on Paramount Plus on Thursday 15 August 2024 then playing out weekly.

* Sign up for Paramount Plus here

Is there a trailer for Stags?

Yes a trailer for Stags has been released by Paramount Plus and things are just as wild as we were expecting! Take a look below...

STAGS | Official Trailer | Paramount+ UK & Ireland - YouTube STAGS | Official Trailer | Paramount+ UK & Ireland - YouTube
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Stags plot

Stags follows groom-to-be Stu (Nico Mirallegro) as he heads to South America with his friends and workmates for a week of fun, sun and debauchery. But instead of boarding a flight back to the UK after the celebrations, the stags are sent to a lawless prison island run by two siblings who are at war with one another. To survive, each stag must choose a side and they soon begin to question who will make it home alive. 

Prison life soon puts pressure on a group made up of his friends, including childhood friend Ant (This Country star Charlie Cooper), university pal Hugo (Paul Forman) and work colleagues like Greg (Asim Choudhry, People Just Do Nothing). However, while he’s trying to keep everyone alive and learning how to navigate a lawless and violent jail run by two drug dealers, he’s also wrestling with his own demons. 

The stags in South America.

The stags in South America. (Image credit: Paramount Plus)

Stags cast — Nico Mirallegro on playing Stu

Nico Mirallegro is playing the stag Stu, who is celebrating his upcoming wedding. 

Nico says: "The show feels like such an adventure. There are so many genres in the mix and it’s like a cross between Midnight Express, Squid Game, Breaking Bad and The Hangover.’ 

"Stu is desperate to rectify the situation. On the surface he’s a lovely guy, but underneath he has a feeling of neglect and sabotage towards himself. He has a different dynamic with all his friends, but there’s something simmering underneath it all."

While Stu and his pals get a shock when they first set eyes upon the prison island, the cast had a similar experience when they arrived in a remote part of Tenerife for filming. 

"We started out with ambitions to make it a really wholesome experience,’ says Nico. ‘But after two weeks, we said “let’s get at it” and decided to have this mock stag do and had a right party!"

* Nico Mirallegro previously played Barry ‘Newt’ Newton in the soap Hollyoaks from 2007 to 2010 and has also starred in My Mad Fat Diary, The Village, Upstairs Downstairs, Rillington Place, Ridley, We Hunt Together, Spy/Master and Our Girl. Nico was also in the film Peterloo.

Nico Mirallegro as Stu (on left) in Stags.

Nico Mirallegro plays Stu in Stags. (Image credit: Paramount Plus)

Who else is starring in Stags?

Stags has a well-known cast including Corin Silva (SAS: Rogue Heroes) and Charlie Cooper (This Country) are playing Stu’s close childhood friends, Ryan and Ant, while newcomer Sophie Lenglinger and Paul Forman (Emily in Paris) are his university friends, Clem and Hugo. 

Asim Chaudhry (People Just Do Nothing) is Stu’s work mate, Greg (see pictured above), and his in-laws, John and Kai, will be played by Cavan Clerkin (The Last Kingdom) and Jojo Macari (Sex Education). Paulina Galvez (Desperation Road) and Oscar Foronda (Mallorca Files) are Selma and Branco Quispe, the siblings who rule the prison Stu and his friends find themselves in. Oscar Foronda plays Branco.

Charlie Cooper as Lee 'Kurtan' Mucklowe in BAFTA-winning comedy This Country.

Charlie Cooper, here as Lee 'Kurtan' Mucklowe in This Country, will play Ant in Stags. (Image credit: BBC/Sophie Mutevelian)

Hugo with the rest of the People Just Do Nothing gang.

Asim Chaudhry (on left, with the People Just Do Nothing crew) plays Greg in Stags. (Image credit: UKTV)

Behind the scenes, locations and more on Stags

Stags is a six-part series that is currently being filmed in Tenerife which doubles as South America.

BAFTA-winning film and TV director David Kerr (Johnny English Strikes Again, Inside No.9) is lead Director of Stags, whilst Daniel Cullen (Breeders, Bad Sisters) is the series creator and Co-Executive Producer. The Executive Producers are Carissa Hope Lynch, Joel Wilson, Olivia Trench, and Jamie Campbell. David Kerr also joins the team as Executive Producer across the series, with Farah Abushwesha serving as Producer. Sony Pictures Television will distribute the series internationally.

 Carissa Hope Lynch says: “The incredible cast and standout creative team are a real testament to Daniel’s distinct and darkly comic scripts. Stags is a balls out series, packed with plot twists that’ll give the keenest genre buff whiplash. We’re so thrilled to bring this savage tale to Paramount+”

The series was commissioned by Sebastian Cardwell, Deputy Chief Content Officer, UK, Paramount. On the new series order,who says: “Quality local content for Paramount+ is something that we are passionate about and Stags is an excellent addition to our 2024 roster of UK original series. With the team at Eleven at the helm and an exciting ensemble cast, Stu’s stag do promises to be a wild, gripping ride that we can’t wait to bring viewers on.”

Nicholas Cannon
TV Content Director on TV Times, What's On TV and TV & Satellite Week

I'm a huge fan of television so I really have found the perfect job, as I've been writing about TV shows, films and interviewing major television, film and sports stars for over 25 years. I'm currently TV Content Director on What's On TV, TV Times, TV and Satellite Week magazines plus Whattowatch.com. I previously worked on Woman and Woman's Own in the 1990s. Outside of work I swim every morning, support Charlton Athletic football club and get nostalgic about TV shows Cagney & Lacey, I Claudius, Dallas and Tenko. I'm totally on top of everything good coming up too.