ZDFE Partners with Endor Productions for Crime Thriller

ZDF Enterprises (ZDFE) and Endor Productions have teamed to co-produce A State of Grace, based on the best-selling crime novels by author and screenwriter M.J. Arlidge.

Arlidge (Mistresses, Silent Witness, Cape Wrath) will adapt the first of his ten books, Eeny Meeny. The female-led thriller will center on Helen Grace, the U.K.’s most unconventional and explosive detective, as she faces a devious serial killer.

Arlidge will also executive produce, alongside Endor Productions’ Carlo Dusi and Hilary Bevan Jones and ZDFE’s Yi Qiao.

“Helen Grace is the Dark Knight of Southampton, a troubled, brooding but exceptional crime fighter, whose taste for action is matched by her searing intelligence and moral courage,” said Arlidge. “A fierce protector of the weak and vulnerable, Helen lives and breathes her job with a passion few can match. Remorseless, determined, kind and courageous, she is every criminal’s worst nightmare and every crime reader’s dream. Over the past ten years, I have had enormous fun bringing Helen Grace to life on the page—I can’t wait now to introduce her to TV viewers.”

“We are delighted to be partnering with Endor Productions on the bestselling Helen Grace series,” said Qiao, director ZDFE.drama at ZDF Enterprises. “Matt Arlidge’s brilliant storytelling together with Endor’s skills at producing premium dramas and their access to talent makes for a winning combination, and I can’t wait to see this thriller develop into a binge-worthy series.”

Dusi, managing director of Endor Productions, added, “I am delighted to be launching our partnership with Yi Qiao and the great team at ZDF Enterprises with our adaptation of Matt Arlidge’s brilliant novel Eeny Meeny. Hilary and I fell in love with the formidable Helen Grace from our very first read and are truly excited to be working with a writer of many talents such as Matt in bringing his chilling, unputdownable novels to the screen.”