BBC One announces new drama commissions

BBC One has announced the commission of three new dramas for next year.

Produced by BBC Cymru Wales, and written and created by Toby Whithouse, The Game is a Cold War spy thriller set in the secretive world of 1970s espionage.
It tells the story of the invisible war fought by MI5 as they battle to protect the nation from the threats of the Cold War. When a KGB defector reveals the existence of a devastating Soviet plot, the charismatic but paranoid head of MI5 assembles a secret team to investigate.

Each episode will see the team uncover a new traitor to investigate, another piece of the jigsaw and another mission into the unknown. With Cold War tensions at a terrifying peak, how far are they prepared to go to keep ahead of the great game?
Jonathan Strange and Mr Norell, based on the bestselling novel by Susanna Clarke, is set during the Napoleonic Wars in an England where magic once existed and is about to return.
The 7:39 is described as a ‘romantic drama for grown-ups’ and tells the story of two commuters who each take the same daily train journey. As their friendship develops into something more they refuse to admit – to each other and themselves – that a line might be crossed. The consequences of discovery will be life-changing, catastrophic perhaps, and yet they can’t help falling in love.
The Game and Jonathan Strange and Mr Norell will each run for six episodes while The 7:39 will air in two sixty-minute instalments.

BBC One Controller Danny Cohen says: “I aim to keep raising the stakes with our drama output on BBC One. Ben Stephenson and I are committed to finding pieces with great ambition, quality writing and memorable performances which portray a captivating range of fictional worlds and landscapes. We aim to keep working with Britain’s very best writers, actors and directors.”