Director of BBC Drama Lindsay Salt unveiled the drama orders as part of a speech outlining her vision for the U.K. public broadcaster’s drama offering.
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The Ministry of Time
The BBC says the six-part series is “based on Kaliane Bradley’s hotly anticipated debut novel of the same name, adapted by Alice Birch (Normal People, The End We Start From, Dead Ringers)” and will be produced by A24 (Beef, Such Brave Girls, Dreaming Whilst Black) for flagship channel BBC One and streaming service BBC iPlayer.
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Dear England
This is a new drama about Gareth Southgate and the England men’s soccer team, based on James Graham’s (Sherwood, The Way, Quiz) National Theatre play of the same name. Fiennes will star in the four-part show as Southgate.
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Film Club
The BBC has also ordered this six-part romantic comedy-drama, which marks the screenwriting debut of actors Aimee Lou Wood and Ralph Davis (SAS Rogue Heroes, Life After Life, Othello). It will be made by Gaumont (Locked In, Obsession) for BBC Three and BBC iPlayer. “Co-creator Aimee Lou Wood, who won a BAFTA for her role in Sex Education, will star in Film Club as Evie,” the BBC said.
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Mint
Described as “a darkly comic and unconventional drama about what it means to be part of a crime family, from writer and filmmaker Charlotte Regan who garnered huge critical acclaim for her recent, BAFTA-nominated film Scrapper,” the eight-part series comes from Fearless Minds (Soul Mates) and House Productions (Sherwood).
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Lions (working title)
The six-part drama about two men across the decades is written and created by writer and performer Richard Gadd (Baby Reindeer, Sex Education). Set and filmed in and around Glasgow, it is made by Mam Tor Productions, a Banijay label, for BBC One, BBC Scotland and BBC iPlayer.
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This City Is Ours
An eight-part crime drama created by writer Stephen Butchard (The Good Mothers, The Last Kingdom) will be set and filmed by Left Bank Pictures for BBC One and BBC iPlayer in Liverpool. Sony Pictures Television will distribute the series internationally.
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Blue Lights
The BBC has also ordered two more six-part seasons, namely seasons 3 and 4, of the Belfast-based police drama from Two Cities Television for BBC One and iPlayer. The news comes ahead of the second season that will air this spring. Co-created and written by Declan Lawn and Adam Patterson, Blue Lights is “an authentic, gripping and darkly funny drama about ordinary people doing an extraordinary job,” the BBC says. Season 1 followed three new Police Service of Northern Ireland probationary recruits as they navigated their way through their first few months in a complex place.
Reunion
Positioned as “an emotional thriller of revenge and redemption, which 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,” the four-parter is produced by Warp Films for BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
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The Split Up
This new six-part series is set in the world of Manchester’s divorce law circuit, “where one family of lawyers, the Kishans, reigns supreme,” according to the show description.
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The Dream Lands
This six-parter from production firm Sister (This Is Going to Hurt, Gangs of London) is described as “a coming-of-age story with a twist,” based on Rosa Rankin-Gee’s novel Dreamland. Brought to life for BBC One and BBC iPlayer by Kayleigh Llewellyn, the BAFTA-award-winning creator and writer of the series In My Skin, it is set in the near future against a backdrop of soaring inequality.
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We Go Again (working title)
From writer Janice Okoh (Sanditon, Hetty Feather), the six-part series is based on her play Three Birds, winner of the Bruntwood Playwriting Prize, and will be made for BBC Three and BBC iPlayer by Banijay label The Forge Entertainment (The Buccaneers, Help, Ackley Bridge).
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The Listeners
Starring Rebecca Hall, this drama is based on the novel by Jordan Tannahill, who also wrote the adaptation. Produced by Element Pictures (Normal People, The Favourite, Poor Things), a Fremantle label, it was directed by Janicza Bravo (Zola, Poker Face, Mrs America) for BBC One and BBCiPlayer.
El Ministerio de Tiempo is a pre-existing Spanish show with key similarities to this “upcoming” novel that The Ministry of Time is based on… I was actually hoping this would be an English adaptation but now I’m confused and wondering how it isn’t just a rip off.
It’s an ambitious slate. I look forward to watching these.