Jonny
Lee Miller set to play Byron as BBC announces ambitious slate of
historical dramas and period adaptations for BBC ONE and TWO
BBC
ONE has just greenlit a four-part serial about the life of King
Charles II, whilst Jonny Lee Miller is attached to play Byron in
a major two-part drama about the poet's life for BBC TWO, it was
announced by BBC Controller of Drama Commissioning Jane Tranter
today.
The
focus of King Charles II is his court, his squabbling family
and his glamorous mistresses - from the high-born and promiscuous
Barbara Villiers through folk heroine and sex symbol of the day
Nell Gwynne to the French spy Louise de Keroualle.
It
is an original take on a historical period written by award-winning
screenwriter Adrian Hodges, whose credits include David Copperfield
and The Lost World, which penetrates to the heart of the charismatic
monarch who was deeply traumatised by the execution of his father.
Byron
is written by Nick Dear, whose credits include the award-winning
adaptation of Jane Austen's Persuasion, and is to be directed by
Julian Farino (Flesh And Blood, Our Mutual Friend, Bob And Rose).
With
Jonny Lee Miller attached but not contracted to play the title role,
the two-part drama portrays the wildy excessive Lord Byron as the
ultimate rebel whose overnight success brought him instant celebrity
status.
Lady
Caroline Lamb, the most bitter of his jilted lovers, described him
as "Mad, bad and dangerous to know".
It
explores not just his sexual excesses, but who he was, what he was
looking for in his life, and how he became such a radical icon.
"These
are ambitious and original historical dramas for BBC ONE and TWO,"
said Jane Tranter.
"King
Charles II is a dynamic romp through history - racy, visceral and
violent - set in the corridors and bedrooms of power, when the conflict
between monarch and state was at a crossroads.
"Byron
aims to take a non-traditionalist approach to period drama, so that
it won't feel like a 'classic'.
"It
will focus on Byron's energy and his desire to turn convention upside
down, and isn't so much interested in the minutiae of period detail.
"It
will also emphasise such contemporary themes as celebrity, media
manipulation and the bad boy image of an outsider who wins - but
despises - society's praise."
In
addition, two family films of classic children's tales have been
commissioned for BBC ONE.
Jim
Broadbent is attached to star as Alfred Salteena in Daisy Ashford's
The Young Visiters [sic], which has been adapted by Patrick
Barlow; and Pauline Quirke is to star in an adaptation of Nina Bawden's
novel, Carrie's War, which tells the story of London evacuees
in Wales during the Second World War.
Two
further adaptations are in advanced development.
He
Knew He Was Right, scripted by Andrew Davies from the novel
by Anthony Trollope for BBC ONE, is an astonishing dissection of
the psychology of an imploding marriage, and how jealousy drives
a wedge through a glittering, glamorous young couple who seem to
have it all.
Davies
brings to it the same startlingly modern resonance which he brought
to the world of business in The Way We Live Now.
The
dark and thrilling central story is contrasted with a cast of eccentric
characters and strong sub-plots which provide great wit and warmth.
To
The Ends Of The Earth is a hugely ambitious event - a major
three-part adaptation by Leigh Jackson of William Golding's sea
trilogy comprising Rites of Passage, Close Quarters and Fire Down
Below.
A modern
masterpiece by one of the greatest novelists of the 20th century,
To The Ends Of The Earth is set during the early 19th century, and
follows a young aristocrat on a voyage of discovery from England
to Australia.
Leigh
Jackson's credits include BBC ONE's forthcoming political drama
The Project, and the award-winning Warriors, about British UN peace-keepers
in Bosnia.
Notes
to Editors
Previously
announced historical and period dramas coming to BBC Television
include...
The
Other Boleyn Girl
takes
a fresh look at history with the story of Mary Boleyn, who was mistress
to Henry VIII before he married her sister Anne, and stars Natascha
McElhone, Jodhi May and Jared Harris.
Cambridge
Spies is a fresh take on the Cambridge spy ring written
by Peter Moffat for BBC TWO, which is now filming.
Both
are in currently in post-production for BBC TWO.
The
Hound of the Baskervilles is a modern realisation of a timeless
and popular classic, which stars Richard Roxburgh and Ian Hart as
Holmes and Watson, and is to be shown later this year on BBC ONE.
Servants
is a bold and irreverent new series by Lucy Gannon, currently in
production for BBC ONE, set largely below stairs in an English country
house in the 1850s England.
It
focuses on the hopes, dreams and ambitions of the servants who make
a great household work.
Stephen
Poliakoff's much-anticipated The
Lost Prince, a major two-part drama to be shown on BBC ONE
next year, tells the little-known story of Edwardian royal, Prince
John, the youngest child of George V and Queen Mary, whose short
life spanned one of the most momentous periods in history - the
political build-up to the First World War and the machinations of
European royalty in the early part of the 20th century.
It
stars Miranda Richardson, Michael Gambon and Gina McKee.
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