BBC catches Conversations with Friends

The BBC’s adaptation of Sally Rooney’s Normal People will premiere this spring

The BBC has commissioned an adaptation of Sally Rooney’s debut novel Conversations With Friends from Irish film and television prodco Element Pictures.

Conversations with Friends is set in Dublin and revolves around two college students and the unexpected connection they forge with a married couple.

The series follows the BBC’s adaptation of Rooney’s award-winning 2018 novel Normal People, which will premiere in the UK this spring on BBC3 and BBC1.

Conversations With Friends will be produced by Element Pictures for BBC3, with Oscar-nominated Lenny Abrahamson directing. Following her work on Normal People, Alice Birch will be returning to write a number of episodes, with further writers to be announced.

The 12×30’ series will be executive produced by Abrahamson and Rooney, alongside Ed Guiney, Andrew Lowe, Emma Norton, Rose Garnett and Tommy Bulfin.

Piers Wenger, controller of BBC Drama, said: “We are all addicted to Sally Rooney’s writing and will plunder her literary canon as long as she is writing. And so, on the back of the taut and tangled Normal People, we are delighted that Sally has entrusted us and the wonderfully talented people at Element Pictures with her debut novel, Conversations With Friends.

BBC2 has also picked up a stand-alone documentary about the Miss World contest in the 1970s and a celebrity edition of reality format Pilgrimage.

The Miss World Protests (working title, 1×60’) is a BBC Studios production telling the story of the Womens’ Liberation Movement’s protests that disrupted the Miss World contest and sparked a feminist movement.

The doc is directed by Hannah Berryman and executive produced by Richard Bright and is set to premiere on BBC2 next month.

Pilgrimage: The Road To Istanbul (3×60’) will see celebrities follow an ancient military route from Serbian capital Belgrade to the Turkish city. The contestant have two weeks to complete the journey, staying in basic hostels and sleeping in shared dorms along the way.

The series is produced by indie CTVC, with Caroline Mattews and Colm Martin executive producing, and follows previous instalments of the series in which participants travelled to Rome and Santiago de Compostela.