The BBK, the United Kingdom’s public broadcaster, has officially unveiled 12 brand new dramas from the producers and creative minds behind such hits as ‘Poor Things,’ ‘The White Lotus,’ ‘Sex Education,’ ‘Beef,’ ‘The Crown,’ ‘Normal People’ and ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
Additionally, BBC is bringing aboard the romantic comedy-drama ‘Film Club’, which is A24’s television adaption of the novel ‘The Ministry of Time’ and will star The White Lotus season 3 cast member Aimee Lou Wood.
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.
Here is a breakdown of the new BBC additions, per the Hollywood Reporter:
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.
Rupert Goold (Judy, King Charles III, The Hollow Crown), who directed Dear England on stage, will direct the series, written by James Graham. It will be made for BBC One and BBC iPlayer by LeftBank Pictures (The Crown, Quiz, Sitting in Limbo).
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.
“Every Thursday, 9 pm, Tom and Evie watch a film together in her garage. Evie lovingly decorates the space to match the film of the week – from a yellow brick road for The Wizard of Oz to a spacecraft for Alien,” according to a plot description. “They’re there for the love of the movies. Or at least, that’s what they tell themselves. In reality, Tom is madly in love with Evie. What he doesn’t know is that Evie is in love with him too. But when Tom accepts a job at the other end of the country, their happily ever after comes under threat. He’s leaving in six weeks. That means Evie has six film clubs left to tell Tom how she feels, or risk losing him forever.”
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).
Lions (working title)
“When Niall’s estranged ‘brother’ Ruben shows up at his wedding, it leads to an explosion of violence that catapults us back through their lives. Spanning almost 40 years from the 1980s to the present day, this ambitious series will cover the highs and lows of the brothers’ relationship, from them meeting as teenagers to their falling out as adults – with all the good, bad, terrible, funny, angry, and challenging moments along the way.”
This City Is Ours
An eight-part crime drama created by writer Stephen Butchard tells the story of Michael, “a man who for all of his adult life has been involved in organized crime… but for the first time in his life, Michael is in love.” It details his love affair with Diana set against the disintegration of his criminal work. “For years, together with his friend Ronnie, Michael has successfully been bringing cocaine into the city and beyond, directly from Colombia,” says the plot summary. “But when a shipment goes missing, he knows their Kingdom is under attack.”
Blue Lights
The BBC has 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.
Reunion
“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 Split Up
six-part series is set in the world of Manchester’s divorce law circuit, “where one family of lawyers, the Kishans, reigns supreme.”
The Dream Lands
This six-parter from production firm Sister and is “a coming-of-age story with a twist”.
We Go Again (working title)
From writer Janice Okoh is a “comedy-drama about three stubbornly optimistic siblings with a dark secret” and “an irreverent portrait of black working-class teenage life,” the plot description says: “When their mum disappears, they will do anything to keep it quiet so they can stay together as a family, but – as feistily resilient and fiercely loyal as they are – can they really outwit the authorities and carry on with life under the radar?”
The Listeners
Starring Rebecca Hall is described as – “This seemingly innocuous noise gradually upsets the balance of her life, increasing tension between herself and her husband, Paul, and daughter, Ashley. But when she discovers that a student of hers, Kyle (Ollie West-Hamnet), can also hear the sound, the two strike up an unlikely and intimate friendship.”
