Foz Allan’s drama indie Bryncoed Productions has secured the TV drama rights to Ian Samson’s The County Guides To Murder and screenwriter and playwright Steve Thompson (Sherlock; Jericho; Deep State; Doctor Who) has signed up to adapt the books into a multi-part television series.
The County Guides series now numbers four books in a projected 44 novels. The main character is Swanton Morley who is compiling a series of guides of the counties of England but is distracted by a series of mysterious murders.
Foz Allan, founder and CEO of Bryncoed Productions, said: “The Great British Bake Off would have been ridiculed in the 1970s — in that age of convenience, nobody was interested in old-fashioned baking. But we’re now fascinated by those skills and love the connection they give us to our past. And so it is with the County Guides to Murder. On the one hand, The County Guides are a topographical study of the folklore, crafts and traditions of 1930s England. On the other, they are immensely clever murder mysteries, inspired by the Golden Age of British detective fiction.”
Steve Thompson said: “The County Guides reflect a growing appetite for a world that’s fading and dying. Much has already gone: the last veteran of the First World War, the last native Cornish speaker, the last hand-crafted piano-maker… Ian Samson’s witty and inventive novels offer 21st century audiences who enjoy fetishising the past — from restoring old houses to collecting vintage cars and antiques — a journey though the traditions and crafts of the early 20th century, with the occasional puzzle to solve involving a corpse.”
Staff Reporter
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