Sherlock scribe boards Bryncoed drama

One of the writers of BBC hit Sherlock has boarded a TV adaptation of a murder-mystery book series from fledgling scripted firm Bryncoed Productions.

Steve Thompson

Screenwriter and playwright Steve Thompson, whose other credits include Jericho, Deep State and Doctor Who, has signed up to adapt Ian Samson’s The County Guides to Murder books into a multi-part television series.

It comes after Bryncoed Productions, which recently launched and focuses on returning series and children’s drama, secured the TV drama rights to the books, the first of which was published in 2013.

Three more books have been published since, with another 40 planned. Set in the 1930s, they follow an idiosyncratic professor who, while compiling a series of guides of the counties of England, comes across mysterious murders.

Foz Allan, founder and CEO of Bryncoed Productions, said: “On the one hand, The County Guides are a topographical study of the folklore, crafts and traditions of 1930s England. On the other, they are immensely clever murder mysteries, inspired by the golden age of British detective fiction.”

Thompson added: “Ian Samson’s witty and inventive novels offer 21st century audiences who enjoy fetishising the past – from restoring old houses to collecting vintage cars and antiques – a journey though the traditions and crafts of the early 20th century, with the occasional puzzle to solve involving a corpse.”

In April, Bryncoed was named among the class of 2018 for the UK Indielab accelerator programme. Earlier this month the company appointed former NBCUniversal acquisitions employee Emma Yap as its development producer.