BBC1 goes for Gale’s first drama

BBC1 in the UK has ordered a two-part series that will be the first original TV drama to be written by novelist Patrick Gale.

Patrick Gale

Man In An Orange Shirt is being produced by Endemol Shine Group-owned Kudos and explores how a painting links two gay love stories told 60 years apart.

Gale said one would be “set in the 1940s and 50s” and another “in the violently contrasted present, one depicting a love story made impossible by pressures from society, one a love story nearly derailed by the long-term fall-out from the 1940s story.”

He added that he “hoped they’ll appeal equally to straight and gay viewers but also that they’ll leave either side feeling challenged about things they take for granted.”

Gale’s novels include Notes from an Exhibition as well as A Place Called Winter.

Diederick Santer, exec producer for Kudos, described the shows as “both epic and intimate, and as touching and entertaining as it is thought-provoking.” She exec produces with BBC’s acting head of drama commissioning Lucy Richer.

Last month BBC1 named Channel 4’s head of drama Piers Wenger as the permanent controller of drama commissioning to replace Polly Hill, who joined ITV.