New Kay Mellor drama heading to BBC

BBC One has commissioned five new and original dramas, it has been announced.

Kay Mellor's A Passionate Woman, chronicling a mother's affair in the 1950s, joins Mark Gattis's Sherlock, a contemporary take on the classic stories, to form part of the channel's 2010 schedule.

Other new dramas include The Silence, a coming of age series about a deaf girl; Luther, a dark, psychological crime drama; and The Deep, a thriller set below the Arctic ice.

"I couldn’t be more excited about the wealth of authored drama that I have commissioned for first half of 2010," said the BBC's Ben Stephenson. "It is a credit to the writers and producers of this country that so much astonishing work is coming through.

"Following on from the success of Peter Bowker’s Occupation and Russell T. Davies’s Torchwood, I hope these new commissions demonstrate the BBC's renewed commitment to drama series and serials and give us a reason to be proud of all the talent coming out of Britain at the moment."