'Swallows and Amazons' gets BBC adaptation

The BBC plans to adapt Arthur Ransome's Swallows and Amazons for the big screen.

The adaptation was one of many announced at the Cannes Film Festival.

Christine Langan, head of BBC Films, told the Daily Mail: "This story is from [a] pre-health and safety generation. Modern parenting is fraught and complicated - worrying about what sort of society we live in.

"There is a danger we are physically infantilising our children. There is a sense of freedom in the book and a sense of innocence that people perhaps miss. The film is very timely."

BBC Films' previous ventures include The Damned United and In The Loop. It has also jointly financed We Need to Talk About Kevin, which screened in competition at Cannes last week.

The screenplay has been written by Andrea Gibb, who wrote the screenplays for Dear Frankie and AfterLife.

Siblings Tom and Charlie Guard, who helmed 2009 horror film The Uninvited, will direct the project, while Nick Barton (Calendar Girls) will serve as producer.