Channel 4 has announced a slate of six dramas including a new adaptation of A Woman of Substance, produced by The Forge Entertainment; David Harewood starrer Pierre from The Lighthouse (Scoop); a second series of The Undeclared War from Playground; Maya, written by Daisy Haggard and produced by Two Brothers; an adaption of The Rachel Incident from Element Pictures and Jack Thorne’s Falling from The Forge.
Falling
Produced by The Forge Entertainment (National Treasure, The Buccaneers, Marriage), a Banijay UK company, Falling is a major new six-part drama written by acclaimed BAFTA award-winning writer Jack Thorne (Help, Kiri, His Dark Materials) who brings his first ever love story to Channel 4.
Anna is a devoted nun who has spent most of her adult life in a convent whilst David, a catholic priest, is at the top of his game, committed to his work in the church and the Bristol community that surrounds it. Neither are expected to fall in love… However, when they do, both Anna and David are forced to wrestle with what it means for them, their vows, and their relationship with God.
A 6×60’ drama from The Forge, Falling is executive produced by George Ormond, George Faber and Jack Thorne. Joe Donaldson (Cobra, Ripper Street, Peaky Blinders) is the producer and Peter Hoar (It’s A Sin, The Last of Us, Umbrella Academy) will direct. Falling has been commissioned for Channel 4 by Ollie Madden, Director of Film4 and Channel 4 Drama and Gwawr Lloyd, Commissioning Editor, Drama. Falling will be distributed internationally by Banijay Rights.
The Rachel Incident
An adaption of The Rachel Incident, from the New York Times bestselling novelist, podcaster and screenwriter Caroline O’Donoghue. The eight-part series will be produced by Element Pictures (Normal People, POOR THINGS) and UCP, a division of Universal Studio Group and Pageboy.
Rachel is a student working at a bookstore when she meets James, and it is love at first sight. Effervescent and insistently heterosexual, James soon invites Rachel to be his roommate, and the two begin a friendship that changes the course of both their lives forever. Together, they run riot through the streets of Cork City, trying to maintain a bohemian existence while the threat of the financial crash looms before them. When Rachel falls in love with her married professor, Dr Fred Byrne, James helps her devise a reading at their local bookstore, with the goal that she might seduce him afterwards. But Fred has other desires. So begins a series of secrets and compromises that intertwine the fates of James, Rachel, Fred, and Fred’s glamorous, well-connected wife Deenie.
The Rachel Incident was commissioned by Ollie Madden, Director of Film4 and Channel 4 Drama and Rebecca Holdsworth, Commissioning Editor, Drama and is produced by Element Pictures, a Fremantle company, UCP, a division of Universal Studio Group and Pageboy.
Maya
Maya, a gripping new six-part drama written and created by BAFTA and International Emmy-nominated Daisy Haggard. The original series follows the story of mother and daughter as they are forced into witness protection to escape a dangerous threat and will be produced by the award-winning Two Brothers Pictures (The Tourist, Fleabag, Boat Story).
Leaving their lives in London behind, Anna played by Daisy Haggard (Back to Life, Breeders), and her teenage daughter Maya must take on new identities and relocate to a small rural town. As they try to adjust to their new reality, the trauma of their past continues to haunt them and the sinister presence of two hitmen leaves a trail of unease as they search for the missing mother and daughter. As the walls close in on them it becomes clear that the dangerous figure from their past is still a looming threat.
Maya was commissioned for Channel 4 by Ollie Madden, Director of Film4 and Channel 4 Drama and Gemma Boswell, Commissioning Editor, Drama. It is a Two Brothers Pictures (an All3Media company) production, in association with All3Media International. Executive Producers are writer and creator Daisy Haggard; and Harry and Jack Williams and Sarah Hammond, Alex Mercer and Daisy Mount for Two Brothers Pictures.
Pierre
Channel 4 has commissioned a new six-part original drama, Pierre, from indie producer The Lighthouse (Scoop), co-written by BAFTA-winning screenwriter, Roy Williams OBE (Soon Gone: The Windrush Chronicles, Fallout) and BAFTA-nominated writer John Donnelly (Summerwater, Utopia) and starring award-winning actor David Harewood OBE (Sherwood, Homeland) in the title role.
West London duty solicitor Pierre is a force of nature: charming and funny, a glamorous character in an unglamorous profession, juggling the pressures of his job, a fragile personal life and just keeping his head above water financially. His resilience is tested when he begins investigating the suspicious death of a young black client, Michael. As Pierre challenges the police’s portrayal of Michael as a criminal, he unravels a chilling web of institutional corruption… When you come at the system, the system comes at you…
Pierre was commissioned for Channel 4 by Ollie Madden, Director of Film4 and Channel 4 Drama and Gwawr Lloyd, Commissioning Editor, Drama. It will be produced by The Lighthouse and executive producers are Hilary Salmon, John Donnelly, Roy Williams and David Harewood. The producer is Jo Johnson.
A Woman of Substance
Channel 4 announces a brand-new adaptation of A Woman of Substance, produced by The Forge Entertainment (National Treasure, Help, Generation Z), a Banijay UK company and written by Katherine Jakeways (The Buccaneers) and co-written by Roanne Bardsley (The Buccaneers, Screw).
Both Emmy-nominated and Channel 4’s biggest ever drama when it was made 40 years ago, this new eight-part revenge romp is a re-imagining of the multi-million bestselling novel and global phenomenon written by Barbara Taylor Bradford, which feels just as searingly relevant today as it did back then.
An 8×60” drama series by The Forge Entertainment, Beth Willis, Joe Innes and Katherine Jakeways are the executive producers. Roanne Bardsley is Co-Executive Producer. Charlie Palmer (Extraordinary, Agatha Raisin) is producer and John Hardwick (The Buccaneers, One Day, The A Word) will direct.
A Woman of Substance has been commissioned for Channel 4 by Ollie Madden, Director of Film4 and Channel 4 Drama and Rebecca Holdsworth, Commissioning Editor Drama. A Woman of Substance will be distributed internationally by Banijay Rights.
The Undeclared War S2
Channel 4 has announced a second series of The Undeclared War, a six-part cyber-thriller written by Colin Teevan (Das Boot, Rebellion) and all episodes directed by Paul McGuigan (Sherlock, Inside Man).
The series is produced by Emmy, Bafta and Golden Globe-winning Playground (All Creatures Great And Small, Wolf Hall), Stonehenge Films and Universal International Studios (Everyone Else Burns, The Dream Lands), a division of Universal Studio Group. The series is executive produced by Playground’s Colin Callender, Daniel Gratton, and Noëlette Buckley, Stonehenge Films’ Peter Kosminsky, Colin Teevan, and Paul McGuigan. Caroline Levy produces. Kosminsky and Callender created the original series.
The Undeclared War Series Two was commissioned for Channel 4 by Ollie Madden, Director of Film4 and Channel 4 Drama and Gwawr Lloyd, Commissioning Editor, Drama.
Ollie Madden, Director of Film4 and Channel 4 Drama, said “Our commitment at Channel 4 drama is to make shows which offer a tangible point of difference, shine a light on British society in a thought provoking and fresh way, and yet are uncompromising in their ambition to entertain. I’m proud to announce this eclectic range of new commissions which embody that ethos, and we’re confident our audiences will love.”
Staff Reporter
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