The Listeners Adaptation for the BBC

The BBC has commissioned a slew of new dramas, including The Listeners, based on the novel by Jordan Tannahill, who has also penned the adaptation.

Produced by Element Pictures (Normal People, The Favourite, Poor Things) and directed by Janicza Bravo (Zola, Poker Face, Mrs. America) for BBC One and BBC iPlayer, the series centers on Claire (Rebecca Hall; Christine, The Town, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire), a popular English teacher who begins to hear a low humming sound that no one else around her can hear. When she discovers that a student of hers can also hear the sound, the two strike up an unlikely and intimate friendship.

“The Listeners is a captivating story that has been brought to life in this gripping adaptation, which interweaves a feeling of the unknown with the need for human connectivity,” commented Lindsay Salt, director of BBC Drama. “I’m thrilled to be working with Jordan, Janicza and Element Pictures and can’t wait for viewers to see this remarkable drama.”

Additionally, Warp Films is working on the four-parter Reunion, an emotional thriller of revenge and redemption, for BBC One and iPlayer. The series—written by William Mager, a deaf writer—follows the journey of Brennan, a deaf man determined to right his wrongs while unraveling the truth behind the events that led him to prison. Reunion promises to be a milestone in inclusive storytelling, with the majority of the cast being deaf or using British Sign Language (BSL). There will also be a number of opportunities for deaf crew members.

Salt said: “This emotionally resonant series not only challenges conventional storytelling norms but also showcases the power of redemption and the enduring bonds of family. I’m really looking forward to seeing William’s brilliant vision come to life on-screen in Reunion and thrilled to be working with him alongside Gwen, Mark and the team at Warp Films.”

Further commissions include two more seasons of the Belfast police drama Blue Lights; Dear England, based on James Graham’s hit play about Gareth Southgate; Film Club, a new romantic comedy-drama from Aimee Lou Wood and Ralph Davis; Lions (w.t.), an original six-part drama about two men across the decades, written and created by Richard Gadd (Baby Reindeer, Sex Education); Mint, a darkly comic and unconventional drama about what it means to be part of a crime family, from writer and filmmaker Charlotte Regan (Scrapper); The Dream Lands, a coming-of-age story with a twist, based on Rosa Rankin-Gee’s enthralling novel Dreamland and brought to life for TV by Kayleigh Llewellyn (In My Skin); The Ministry of Time, a new drama based on Kaliane Bradley’s debut novel of the same name, adapted by Alice Birch (Normal People, The End We Start From, Dead Ringers); The Split Up, featuring the high-stakes world of Manchester’s divorce law circuit where one family of lawyers reigns supreme; This City is Ours, an epic new crime drama created by writer Stephen Butchard (The Good Mothers, The Last Kingdom, Five Daughters) and made by Left Bank Pictures (The Crown, Quiz, Sitting in Limbo); and We Go Again (w.t.), from award-winning writer Janice Okoh (Sanditon, Hetty Feather).