Drama, Comedy & Factual Commissions for BBC Two

LONDON: BBC Two has unveiled a host of new commissions, including an adaptation of The City and the City.

The City and the City is adapted by Tony Grisoni (Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas) from China Mielville’s fantasy thriller novel. It will be produced by Mammoth Screen. Set in a world of power, politics, betrayal, lust and declarations of war, Versailles is the story of King Louis XIV, a 28-year-old monarch on the cusp of greatness. BBC Two has also commissioned this drama.

Meanwhile, the film The Making of Dad's Army (working title) is the dramatized story of how Jimmy Perry and David Croft overcame BBC management skepticism to get the legendary British series Dad’s Army on the air. 

Kim Shillinglaw, controller of BBC Two and BBC Four, commented: "I want BBC Two to give writers and directors the space to do their most creative, signature work and I’m really proud to be announcing an adaptation of China Mielville’s novel, The City and the City. Mieville is one of the country’s foremost fantasy writers and I’m really pleased that we are bringing his highly original voice to the screen, adapted by acclaimed writer Tony Grisoni. And who can resist the behind-the-scenes story of the making of British legend, Dad’s Army, brought to us by a highly talented on- and off-screen team?”

BBC Two also unveiled the character-driven film Black Economy Grafters, which follows investigators on the trails of three different sets of Britain’s black economy “grafters,” counterfeiters, ticket touts and tobacco smugglers. Pyramid Women is a 90-minute drama that tells the story of ordinary law-abiding women who find themselves caught up in an extraordinary series of events.

On the documentary side, Obama from Norma Percy offers unprecedented access to Barack Obama’s White House, while The Station documents the investigation of an alleged British miscarriage of justice that questions whether the correct person was put in prison.

In addition, to complement BBC One’s adaptation of War and Peace, BBC Two and BBC Four are coming together to celebrate key moments in Russia’s cultural history. On BBC Two, The Siege of Leningrad tells the story behind an extraordinary moment of artistic defiance during one of the longest and most destructive sieges in history, the Nazi Siege of Leningrad in 1942. On BBC Four, Lucy Worsley travels to Russia to uncover the story of the Romanov dynasty in The Real Romanovs: Russia’s Absolute Dynasty.

BBC Two has also commissioned titles that tackle contemporary issues in Britain's Black Economy and Britain's Trillion Pound Paradise: Inside Cayman. Entertainment highlights include Ultimate Gladiator, Dance Hall Days and The Great History Quiz. 

In the comedy realm, BBC Two has ordered Mum, starring Lesley Manville as a mother who is rebuilding her life after the death of her husband.