BBC DRAMA LINEUP WINTER/SPRING 2010

[13.25 - French Time] Ben Stephenson, the controller of BBC drama commissioning, unveiled today the BBC's winter and spring 2010 drama lineup. But it seems that several long-running dramas will get the axe in order to make room for these new programmes, reports Maggie Brown for The Guardian.

There's no public list of the concerned shows for the moment but The Guardian writes that Holby City, Casualty, Waterloo Road and New Tricks - don't mess with Dennis Waterman - are thought to be safe (http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/jan/13/bbc-drama-ben-stephenson). Spooks will likely get a ninth series and the boring British version of Wallander has been recommissioned for a third series. I want a crossover where Section D of Thames House gets a suicide mission in Sweden.

Here are some of the dramas announced (BBC One if not precised otherwise):

- Luther: One of the most awaited by many specialists and TV buffs, because it's written by Neil Cross (The Fixer) and it stars Idris Elba (The Wire) as John Luther. Luther is described as "a near-genius murder detective whose brilliant mind can't always save him from the dangerous violence of his passions" (http://www.bbc.co.uk/tv/comingup/luther/).

Each episode of Luther (6 x 60-minute) focuses on the psychological duel between the detective and the criminal - the murderer's identity being known from the start. The Mentalist/Cracker/The Wire shaken not stirred?

- The Silence: A four-part drama from Australian writer Fiona Seres about a deaf 18-year old girl (severely deaf actress Genevieve Barr in her first major role) who witnesses the murder of a policewoman. Douglas Henshall (Primeval, Collision) plays her uncle - a homicide detective - and Dervla Kirwan plays her aunt. I hope it's not Mute Witness - The TV series because strictly on paper it looks interesting.

- The Deep: a five-part thriller starring James Nesbitt (Murphy's Law, Jekyll), Minnie Driver and Goran Visnjic (ER). The action follows the crew of an oceanographer's submarine below the Arctic ice. For James Nesbitt only.

There's of course the eagerly awaited series 31, er... series 1... I mean series 5 of Doctor Who, and the third series of Ashes to Ashes. Billie Piper stars in A Passionate Woman, written and produced by Kay Mellor (I guess Freema Agyeman or Lenora Crichlow were unavailable).

According to Maggie Brown a third series of Being Human has been commissioned by BBC Three for next autumn (which is great news). And the channel will show Lip Service (a Kudos production) about the lives of four young lesbians in Glasgow.

And BBC Four has Christopher Eccleston as John Lennon in one-off drama Lennon Naked. He looks fantastic as Lennon. Sometimes one-off dramas are more interesting than commissioned series.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrjWZzIpNrE&feature=player_embedded (Promo)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/jan/13/bbc-drama-ben-stephenson
http://www.broadcastnow.co.uk/news/commissioning/bbc-unveils-drama-line-up/5009587.article?referrer=RSS

See also:

http://tattard2.blogspot.com/2010/01/five-goes-mad-in-cardiff.html
http://tattard2.blogspot.com/2009/07/old-dogs-with-8-million-new-tricks.html
http://tattard2.blogspot.com/2009/11/working-class-hero.html