Peter Moffat to Adapt The Escape Artist

Screenwriter Peter Moffat is working with Bonafide Films on a limited-series adaptation of journalist Jonathan Freedland’s The Escape Artist.

The Escape Artist tells the real-life story of how Rudolf Vrba, a 19-year-old Slovakian Jew, along with fellow inmate Fred Wetzler, escaped from Auschwitz to warn the world about the Holocaust.

Moffat said: “Jonathan Freedland’s conclusion that Rudolf Vrba deserves to ‘stand alongside Anne Frank, Oskar Schindler and Primo Levi in the first rank of stories that define the Shoah,’ is hard to argue with. It’s a great privilege to be asked to adapt this profoundly moving work”

Freedland said: “After the war, Rudolf Vrba stood out for his movie star charisma and the extraordinary tale he had to tell. It seems right that his story will now be brought to the screen by a team as dedicated and talented as Margery Bone and Peter Moffat. I’m thrilled to work with them to bring The Escape Artist to an even wider audience.”

Margery Bone’s Bonafide and Moffat previously worked together on the BBC drama The Last Post. Bonafide is also behind the BBC’s Mood. Moffat, meanwhile, has credits that include Criminal Justice, Your Honor and Silk.