Danny Cohen orders five new dramas for BBC One

Danny CohenDanny Cohen, the new controller of BBC One, has ordered five new dramas for the channel which include a new adaptation of the Charles Dickens novel Great Expectations and a new drama from Upstairs Downstairs writer Heidi Thomas.

 

Danny CohenDanny Cohen, the new controller of BBC One, has ordered five new dramas for the channel which include a new adaptation of the Charles Dickens novel Great Expectations and a new drama from Upstairs Downstairs writer Heidi Thomas. Danny Cohen took the over the reigns of BBC One from Jay Hunt who left the corporation to join Channel Four; Cohen was previously the controller of BBC Three.

 

Looking to stamp his mark on BBC One the new controller has ordered five new dramas for the broadcaster – for 2011 and 2012. A new adaptation of the Charles Dickens novel Great Expectations is heading to BBC One. The new version of the novel will be adapted for television by Sarah Phelps; writer of Oliver Twist and also on EastEnders. It will be adapted for BBC One as three 60 minute episodes to mark the bicentenary of Dicken’s birth.

 

One Night is from new writer Paul Smith about four people whose lives are linked by a seemingly unimportant event. Each episode in the four-part drama will focus on one of the characters and tell the story of a ‘one night’s events from their point of view. Also from a new writer will be Bound, written by Julia Geary, it is about a group of women whose husbands are in jail. The 6 part drama has been commissioned by the BBC to be produced by Tiger Aspect Productions.

 

The BBC has also commissioned a new drama from Heidi Thomas; writer of the BBC’s revived Upstairs Downstairs and its critically acclaimed Cranford. Call The Midlife is based on the memoirs of Jennifer Worth; a 1950s midlife in the East End of London. Finally the BBC has ordered a brand new contemporary spy series, Morton, written by Frank Spontnitz, it will be produced by Kudos – the makers of Spooks. The critically acclaimed spy drama has just been renewed by the BBC for a 10th season.