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BBC One Announces New Dramas
Following on from the channel's recent Bafta wins, BBC One controller Danny Cohen and Ben Stephenson, Controller, BBC Drama Commissioning has announced a raft of new drama commissions.
Ben Stephenson said: "I'm very proud of all the BBC Drama BAFTA winners, I'm especially thrilled that Sherlock picked up the much coveted best series award."
"Series Two of Sherlock will kick off a big year for drama on BBC One. 2012 will be a year of huge cultural significance and BBC One Drama promises to match that ambition by bringing audiences stories with real scale that connect with the hearts and lives of British people.
"Danny Cohen and I have just commissioned 25 hours of new drama for BBC One at 9pm in 2012, this includes two series (Anthony And Cleopatra and Savage), three serials (Inside Men, May Day, Restless) and two singles (Noah and Bert And Dickie).
"I believe this demonstrates a bigger commitment to Original British Drama than any other broadcaster in this country. Following the recent rebirth of drama on BBC Two, the drama story continues to grow as we challenge what popular mainstream drama is on BBC One.
Danny Cohen, Controller, BBC One, added: "Drama is a defining genre for BBC One, and these new commissions reflect the quality, range and ambition we have for our programmes."
New commissions are as follows:
Anthony And Cleopatra, 6x60 series, written by Sally Wainwright and made by Red Production Company
New series for BBC One about love and second chances, set in the autumn years of two old school friends.
Savage, new series, written by Stephen Butchard.
A young, honest, Liverpool beat cop witnesses the brutal murder of his closest friend and is torn between his desire to protect his family, his sense of duty to the public and a sudden, intoxicating, compulsion for revenge.
May Day, 5x60 serial, written by Ben Court and Caroline Ip.
When a young girl goes missing, feared dead, the community in which she lives looks to one another for answers. Four of the girls neighbours fear someone within their family may be involved.
Inside Men, 4x60 serial, written by Tony Basgallop.
Inside Men is the story of three employees of a security depot who plan and execute a £15 million cash heist.
Restless, 2x90 serial, written by William Boyd.
Adaptation of William Boyd's award-winning book about a young woman who discovers her mother was a British spy in theSecond World War, specialising in espionage in America
Bert And Dickie, 1x90 single, written by William Ivory.
Just six weeks before the final of the 1948 London Olympics, Bert Bushnell and Dickie Burnell are teamed together to race for Olympic gold in the double sculls.
Noah, 1x90 single, written by Tony Jordan.
The retelling of the classic Noah's Ark story, told from a very human perspective.
Fomer Coronation Street Actor In Court
Former Coronation Street actor Ian Mercer has been convicted of benefit fraud in Northumberland.
The 49-year-old was forced to make an appearance in South East Northumberland Magistrates’ Court.
His appearance at Bedlington, the day before his new film, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, opened at cinemas nationwide, came after he was caught claiming more than £2,300 worth of council tax benefit to which he was not entitled.
He admitted failing to notify Northumberland County Council of his change of circumstances.
Mercer played Gary Mallett in Coronation Street between 1995 and 2000.
He has since appeared in other popular TV shows, including Shameless, Heartbeat, A Touch of Frost, Cracker, Peak Practice, Doctors and Waking the Dead.
He also landed roles in blockbuster films such as The Boat That Rocked and Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World alongside Russell Crowe.
The actor had been living with his now-estranged wife and two daughters in a rented home at Bothal Barns in Pegswood, claiming council tax benefit for 12 months starting in 2008 prior to the breakdown of his marriage.
Anna Barker, prosecuting, said an anonymous allegation had been made that Mercer had been working, but failed to declare it.
He had also not declared the £200,000 sale of a property in his home town of Oldham, Lancashire, in January 2009.
Mercer and his wife were both interviewed and it was established that Mrs Mercer was not in any way to blame.
Mercer was fined £165, with a £15 victim surcharge and £100 costs.
White Van Man Returns
White Van Man, starring Will Mellor as a hapless handyman, will get a second series on BBC Three.
White Van Man earned audiences of two million when it screened on BBC Three earlier this year and will return for another six episodes.
The comedy stars Mellor as Ollie, the proverbial man with a van in the fictional town of Maplebury, who struggles to do the right thing when all around him his assistant Darren (Joel Fry) is doing wrong.
BBC Three controller Zia Bennett said: "The cheeky, knockabout comedy with a warm heart, full of all the little peculiarities we love about everyday life received the highest launch of any narrative comedy on BBC Three... with each episode being watched by more than two million."
Baby Hospital For ITV
ITV is to screen a new documentary series Baby Hospital which follows the moving stories of the babies being cared for on the Neonatal Unit at Liverpool Women’s Hospital.
The three part series will focus on babies born as much as 16 weeks early, as well as the stories of their families, providing a rare and intimate insight into the demanding work of the doctors and nurses tasked with doing all they can to save their tiny patients’ lives.
Executive producer Paul Hamann said: “Nine out of ten babies in the UK are born healthy, so most of us take having a healthy baby for granted.
“But the senior staff at Liverpool Women’s Hospital, the largest in this country, wanted to tell the real story of what happens to the one in ten, where things don’t go to plan – and to show exactly what that can mean for families.”
The documentary is narrated by actress Sue Johnston.
BBC To Show 1948 Olympics Drama
Bert and Dickie, the story of rowers Bert Bushnell and Dickie Burnell, is to be shown on BBC One next year to coincide with the Olympic Games.
Just six weeks before the so-called "austerity Olympics" in 1948, the pair teamed up together to race for Olympic gold in the double sculls. Bert and Dickie charts their journey against the backdrop of the capital struggling to put on the first Games since the end of the second world war.
The one-off 90-minute drama is being made in-house by the BBC and is one of seven ordered by Ben Stephenson, BBC drama controller, and BBC One controller Danny Cohen to fill the 9pm slot next year on the corporation's flagship channel.
Others include a new six-part series about love and second chances called Antony and Cleopatra, written by ITV1's Unforgiven writer Sally Wainwright and made by independent producer Red.
Another new series, Savage, is about a young Liverpool policeman who witnesses a brutal murder; and May Day, a five-part serial from Spooks producer Kudos about a young girl who goes missing.
Next year BBC One will also screen Worried About the Boy writer Tony Basgallop's new serial, Inside Men, a four-part drama about a £15m heist by security guards; and Restless, a two-part adaptation of William Boyd's award-winning book about a woman whose mother was a spy.
waveguide.co.uk
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