Literary Adaptations, Hugo Blick Project Form New BBC Drama Slate

LONDON: BBC has announced a slate of more than 35 hours of new drama, including a production of E.M. Forster’s classic novel Howards End.

The four-part miniseries will be produced by Playground, in association with City Entertainment and KippSter Entertainment, for BBC One. Pulitzer Prize and Oscar-nominated screenwriter and playwright Kenneth Lonergan (Gangs of New York) will write the series. Also commissioned for BBC One is Press, a 6×1-hour title set in the world of newspapers written by Mike Bartlett (Doctor Foster) and produced by BBC Cymru Wales in association with Deep Indigo and Lookout Point.

Other BBC One green lights are Broken, a six-parter from LA Productions about a Catholic priest and his congregation’s struggle with their religion and contemporary times; The Replacement, a 3×1-hour psychological thriller made by Left Bank Pictures; the 6×1-hour Requiem, also a thriller, from New Pictures; and Woman in White, an adaption of Wilkie Collins’s mystery novel produced by Origin Pictures with BBC Northern Ireland.

For BBC Two, commissions include Black Earth Rising, a thriller from Hugo Blick (The Honourable Woman) that examines the West’s relationship with modern Africa. Drama Republic and Eight Rooks Productions developed the series. Meanwhile, the network will air the three-part revenge drama Paula (working title), made by BBC NI Drama with Cuba Pictures.

“I’m proud to announce this range of over 35 hours of new drama and to continue the BBC’s commitment to backing original, ambitious drama,” said Polly Hill, the controller of BBC Drama Commissioning. “I want the BBC to be the best creative home for writers, and it’s exciting to bring audiences new shows from Mike Bartlett, Jimmy McGovern, Jo Ahearne and Hugo Blick, plus have Kenneth Lonnergan, Connor McPherson and Kris Mrksa all writing their first dramas for us. They [range from] state-of-the-nation drama about contemporary Britain, to crime series that offer a fresh take on a much-loved genre.

“Over the next year, I will continue to reinvent and broaden the range of drama on the BBC and it is because we make great drama for everyone that we can offer audiences and the creative community something unique and distinct.”