Mammoth, ITV take hold of Singapore Grip

UK commercial broadcaster ITV has commissioned The Singapore Grip, a drama based on a novel by JG Farrell to be written by the Oscar-winning writer of Atonement, Christopher Hampton.

Damien Timmer

The six-part series, to be produced by UK outfit Mammoth Screen, tells the story of a British family living in Singapore at the time of the Japanese invasion during the Second World War.

It is based on the book by Booker Prize-winning author Farrell, the third in his Empire Trilogy.

Damien Timmer (Poldark, The Witness For The Prosecution), MD of ITV Studios-owned Mammoth Screen, will exec produce the series, which he developed alongside Mammoth Screen’s creative director Rebecca Keane and Hampton. Mammoth’s Karen Thrussell will also exec produce the drama.

ITV’s head of drama Polly Hill commissioned the series and ITV Studios Global Entertainment will handle international distribution.

“For me, JG Farrell and Christopher Hampton are two of the finest writers this country has ever produced,” said Timmer. “Bringing The Singapore Grip to the screen is a passion project for all of us. It’s an exceptionally well-crafted novel which has been adapted with unique flair and mischief by Christopher.”

Hampton added he was “delighted” to be asked to adapt the “panoramic account of the disastrous loss of Singapore to the Japanese invaders in 1942.”

The Singapore Grip is the second major wartime drama commission Mammoth Screen has received recently, following the BBC’s order for seven-part series World on Fire in October 2017.