TV
ITV1 has promised a series of new dramas that reflect "historical and contemporary real-life events" in its latest announcement about drama programmes coming up this year. Only yesterday, the network promised to spend another £100m on home-grown drama as part of its plan to grab ratings back from the BBC.
Nick Elliot, ITV's controller of drama, said: "ITV1 has made a strong start to 2003 with new dramas such as Sons and Lovers and The Royal proving hugely successful, and Coronation Street pulling in the biggest audiences of any soap with its killer storyline."
"With a diverse line-up of projects such as Danielle Cable and Island at War, and acting talent like James Nesbitt and Ray Winstone, ITV’s commitment to high quality, challenging and audacious drama is maintained."
Today's announcement highlights three new commissions, two of which are based on events in the Second World War.
The other, entitled Danielle Cable: Eyewitness, promises to follow in the footsteps of previously acclaimed factual dramas from the network such as Bloody Sunday. The documentary tells the story of the woman who witnessed the murder of her fiancé by Kenneth Noye on an M25 on-ramp. The producer, Granada, has worked closely with Cable and her family to produce a film that shows "her harrowing ordeal and her gritty determination for justice that led to the capture of Stephen Cameron's killer." Joanne Froggatt plays Danielle Cable, alongside Lindsey Coulson who plays Danielle's mother, Ann Cable.
Island at War is based on the German occupation of the Channel Islands during the Second World War, following three families whose lives are changed by the occupation. The series culminates in the deportation of 2000 island residents to internment camps in 1942. POW, set in 1940 Germany, follows captured British servicemen in a prisoner camp at Stalag Ottersburg.
Another factual drama commission is Wall of Silence, starring James Nesbitt as the father of 17 year-old Jamie Robe, who was beaten to death in 1997. Despite the attack taking place in full public view, the police were unable to find witnesses willing to come forward - a "wall of silence", an oft-heard phrase from which the series takes its named, had gone up in the community. The network said in a release: "This true story, told with the co-operation of Jamie’s family, will strike a chord with families everywhere and addresses vital issues about policing, justice and civil rights in modern Britain."
Other commissions coming up in 2003 include She's Gone, a "tense thriller" revolving around the disappearance of a businessman's daughter in Istanbul, Reversals, in which a husband and wife swap clothes in order to "become each other", and Guardian, which tells the story of a police officer waking up in hospital after being found unconscious at a murder scene. Despite claiming amnesia, he investigates his own role in "a frightening conspiracy that threatens the entire country".
Nick Elliot, ITV's controller of drama, said: "ITV1 has made a strong start to 2003 with new dramas such as Sons and Lovers and The Royal proving hugely successful, and Coronation Street pulling in the biggest audiences of any soap with its killer storyline."
"With a diverse line-up of projects such as Danielle Cable and Island at War, and acting talent like James Nesbitt and Ray Winstone, ITV’s commitment to high quality, challenging and audacious drama is maintained."
Today's announcement highlights three new commissions, two of which are based on events in the Second World War.
The other, entitled Danielle Cable: Eyewitness, promises to follow in the footsteps of previously acclaimed factual dramas from the network such as Bloody Sunday. The documentary tells the story of the woman who witnessed the murder of her fiancé by Kenneth Noye on an M25 on-ramp. The producer, Granada, has worked closely with Cable and her family to produce a film that shows "her harrowing ordeal and her gritty determination for justice that led to the capture of Stephen Cameron's killer." Joanne Froggatt plays Danielle Cable, alongside Lindsey Coulson who plays Danielle's mother, Ann Cable.
Island at War is based on the German occupation of the Channel Islands during the Second World War, following three families whose lives are changed by the occupation. The series culminates in the deportation of 2000 island residents to internment camps in 1942. POW, set in 1940 Germany, follows captured British servicemen in a prisoner camp at Stalag Ottersburg.
Another factual drama commission is Wall of Silence, starring James Nesbitt as the father of 17 year-old Jamie Robe, who was beaten to death in 1997. Despite the attack taking place in full public view, the police were unable to find witnesses willing to come forward - a "wall of silence", an oft-heard phrase from which the series takes its named, had gone up in the community. The network said in a release: "This true story, told with the co-operation of Jamie’s family, will strike a chord with families everywhere and addresses vital issues about policing, justice and civil rights in modern Britain."
Other commissions coming up in 2003 include She's Gone, a "tense thriller" revolving around the disappearance of a businessman's daughter in Istanbul, Reversals, in which a husband and wife swap clothes in order to "become each other", and Guardian, which tells the story of a police officer waking up in hospital after being found unconscious at a murder scene. Despite claiming amnesia, he investigates his own role in "a frightening conspiracy that threatens the entire country".
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