New BBC1 dramas play to Expectations

UK terrestrial BBC1 has unveiled a slate of drama commissions – the first under new controller Danny Cohen – including an adaptation of Charles Dickens classic Great Expectations.

The 3×60′ adaptation will be written by Sarah Phelps (Oliver Twist, EastEnders) and made in-house by BBC Drama Production. It will air next Christmas, tying in with Dickens’ bicentenary anniversary.

Elsewhere, One Night (4×60′) is an event drama written by Paul Smith and also made in-house by BBC Drama Production, telling the story of four characters linked by a seemingly inconsequential event.

Morton (8×60′), from Kudos Film and Television, is billed as a “smart, complex and contemporary” spy series; while Call The Midwife (6×60′), written by Heidi Thomas (Cranford) and made by Neal Street Productions, is an adaptation of Jennifer Worth’s bestselling memoir, which looks at midwifery and family in 1950’s East End London.

Finally, Bound (6×60′, working title) is written by Julie Geary (Lip Service) and made by Tiger Aspect Productions. The series focuses on a group of women whose husbands are in jail.

Cohen and BBC Drama commissioning controller Ben Stephenson commissioned all five dramas. Cohen said: “I hope that these commissions begin to express the range and creative ambition we want BBC1 drama to capture in the coming years.”