Doctor Foster’s Mike Bartlett Preps New BBC Drama LIFE

BBC One has ordered a new six-part drama series, LIFE, from writer Mike Bartlett (Doctor Foster, King Charles III, Press, Trauma).

LIFE brings together four separate strands to tell a larger story about what happens when we decide to step out of our own personal space and take a closer look into other people’s lives. The epic saga will unfold in a divided house in Manchester, looking into each of the flats.

Drama Republic (Doctor Foster, Wanderlust, Black Earth Rising) is producing. BBC Studios will handle international distribution.

Bartlett said: “It’s hugely exciting to be working with Drama Republic and the BBC again to tell a brand-new, epic story about seemingly ‘ordinary’ people who turn out to be anything but.”

Piers Wenger, controller of BBC Drama, added: “Mike’s talent for creating extraordinary characters and recognizing powerful truths in ordinary life singles him out as one of the most popular compelling writers of our age. LIFE is the perfect vessel for all of that talent.”

Drama Republic’s Roanna Benn and Jude Liknaitzky added: “We are so happy to be reunited with Mike and the BBC after making Doctor Foster together. Once again Mike has written a gripping, page-turning, rollercoaster ride of a drama which explores the big things in life in the most exciting and surprising of ways.”