Hill unveils BBC drama binge

BBC drama chief Polly Hill has revealed more than 35 hours of drama programming including shows from Kenneth Lonergan (Gangs of New York) and Mike Bartlett (Doctor Foster).

Polly Hill

Howards End (4×60′) is being produced by Playground Entertainment in association with City Entertainment and KippSter Entertainment for BBC1.

It is being written by Pulitzer Prize- and Academy Award-nominated screenwriter and playwright Lonergan and is based on the EM Forster novel originally published in 1910, exploring social and class divisions in the UK through the prism of three families.

Also on BBC1’s slate is Press (6×60′), which delves into the uncertain world of the news business following hacking scandals and the impact of digital media and 24-hour news services.

Mike Bartlett (Doctor Foster) is writing with BBC Cymru Wales producing in association with Deep Indigo and Lookout Point.

Elsewhere, Broken (6×60′), written by Jimmy McGovern and produced by LA Productions, revolves around a Catholic priest and his changing congregation, while The Replacement (3×60′) is a psychological thriller written and directed by Joe Ahearne and made by Left Bank Pictures.

BBC1 is also preparing Requiem (6×60′) from New Pictures, which explores family revelations, and Origin Pictures’ adaptation of Wilkie Collins’ novel The Woman in White (4×60′).

Meanwhile, BBC2 will air Africa-set thriller Black Earth Rising from Hugo Blick (The Honourable Woman, The Shadow Line). The series is being exec produced by Greg Brenman for Drama Republic and Blick for Eight Rooks Production, and will air alongside revenge drama Paula (working title, 3×60′) from Cuba Pictures and Northern Ireland Drama.

Hill, who replaced Ben Stephenson at the BBC last year, said the show proved the pubcaster’s “commitment to backing original, ambitious drama.”

“Over the next year, I will continue to reinvent and broaden the range of drama on the BBC and it is because we make great drama for everyone that we can offer audiences and the creative community something unique and distinct.”