Channel 4 Commissions Baghdad Central

Channel 4 in the U.K. has ordered the new six-part crime thriller Baghdad Central, which is being produced by Euston Films.

The series comes from BAFTA-nominated writer Stephen Butchard (The Last Kingdom, House of Saddam) and is based on the novel by Elliott Colla. FremantleMedia International will serve as the global distributor for the thriller, which is set post-2003 in the ruins of the fallen city of Baghdad.

Butchard said: “For me, this is a story of the strength of ordinary men and women who, in the face of incredible trauma and hardship, keep taking on life one step at a time. Fueled by love for friends and family the unbearable is not only made bearable, but conquered. It is a story of survival and the quest for hope…told through the universal prism of a fathers’ love for his daughter.”

Beth Willis, Channel 4’s head of drama, said: “We are thrilled to be working with Euston Films and Stephen Butchard in this powerful, pertinent and poetic drama—a gripping thriller with contemporary resonance at every turn. Stephen has created the perfect modern reluctant hero in Inspector Khafaji—a stubborn, wry and brilliant policeman whose love of his daughter and sense of humanity knows no bounds.”

Kate Harwood, the managing director of Euston Films and executive producer, added: “’We were pleased to find in Elliott Colla’s mesmerizing novel a truly original source for the inspirational Stephen Butchard to build a drama set in Baghdad, when it was the pivot of world history. Khafaji, the wry, pragmatic cop who is forced to collaborate with the Coalition forces to save his daughter’s life, becomes a hero for the modern age in a fresh take on this post-conflict world.”