Brexit: The Uncivil War creator, James Graham, is to write new drama, Sherwood, with House Productions for BBC1.
Inspired in part by real events, fictional crime drama, Sherwood is set in the Nottinghamshire mining village where Graham grew up.
The contemporary six-part drama for BBC One sees two shocking and unexpected murders shatter an already fractured community leading to one of the largest manhunts in British history. Suspicion is rife and the tragic murders threaten to inflame historic divisions sparked during the Miners’ Strike that tore families apart three decades before.
To solve the murders, police inspectors Ian St Clair, from the local constabulary, and Kevin Salisbury from the MET, must reunite and bury a rivalry that stretches back to 1984, in an attempt to heal wounds, and catch a killer. But can a community repair itself as more is discovered about those who live there, and whether they really are who they say they are?
Graham said: “It means the world to have this opportunity to bring the voices of a community I grew up in to BBC One. So much is spoken about the divisions and difficulties in these “Red Wall” towns, but they’re not always understood. I feel so honoured to be able to tell a fictionalised story about a very real trauma, but with the humour and heart and resilience of the people I know and love there.”
Lewis Arnold (Time, Des) is lead director and an executive producer, and the producer is Rebecca Hodgson (The Irregulars, Deep Water). Juliette Howell, Tessa Ross and Harriet Spencer are executive producers for House Productions and Ben Irving will executive produce for BBC. Sherwood was commissioned by Charlotte Moore, BBC Chief Content Officer, and Piers Wenger, Director of BBC Drama. BBC Studios will distribute the series internationally.
Filming on Sherwood will begin later in 2021 in Nottinghamshire.
