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BBC orders Jack Thorne drama

UK pubcaster BBC1 has commissioned a drama series from Bafta-winning writer Jack Thorne focusing on a child with a life-threatening condition.

Best Interests (4×60’) follows a family who must decide whether to follow medical advice and allow their seriously ill daughter to die.

The series is the first production for UK prodco Chapter One Pictures, with filming due to take place in 2020. Cast details will be revealed at a later date.

Thorne’s previous writing credits include Channel 4’s three This is England miniseries, while he has also worked on His Dark Materials, the forthcoming BBC1/HBO adaptation of Philip Pullman’s fantasy novels.

“As a parent of a three-year-old, I’ve looked at the cases in the media about ‘best interests’ with some fascination and a little dread,” said Thorne. “When the worst happens, how do you keep your head when everything around you feels wrong? We are going to try to tell a nuanced story that talks about this issue from all sides.”

Best Interests will be produced by Abi Bach (The Honourable Woman, Black Earth Rising). Its executive producers are Sophie Gardiner (Howards End, Chimerica) and Toby Bentley (Kiri) for Chapter One Pictures, Jack Thorne for One Shoe Films and Lucy Richer for BBC1.

The show was commissioned by BBC drama controller Piers Wenger and BBC content director Charlotte Moore. Wenger recently greenlit a feature-length drama based on the Windrush immigration scandal, as well two-part series about the 2018 Novichok poisoning of two Russian nationals in the UK city of Salisbury.

Chapter One was launched in June 2018 by Anonymous Content, Casarotto and United Agents.

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