Channel 4 outlines six-strong drama slate

A story from Jack Thorne about the love between a nun and a Catholic priest is part of a major Channel 4 drama slate, which also includes a project from the co-creator of Hacks and a return to 2022’s The Undeclared War after a hiatus.  

Billed as Thorne’s ‘first love story’, Falling marks the writer’s reunion with The Forge, with whom he worked on C4 drama Help. The contemporary drama explores faith in modern life. 

Hacks co-creator Jen Statsky has partnered with Irish author and podcaster Caroline O’Donoghue to create The Rachel Incident, an eight-part adaptation of the novel of the same name.  

Element Pictures, Universal Content Productions (UCP) and Elliot Page’s indie PageBoy are producing the drama, which examines the friendship between 20-something best friends in 90s Ireland and the fallout when their lives become entwined with and older professor and his wife. 

Next up is Pierre, which is co-written by John Donnelly and playwright Roy Wiliams, making his TV series debut.  

Produced by The Lighthouse, it stars David Harewood as a West London duty solicitor who is barely keeping his head above water physically, emotionally and financially. 

 A charming, funny dealmaker, Pierre is a brilliant lawyer who unravels a chilling web of institutional corruption. Harewood will also serve as exec producer.  

After working together on BBC3’s Back to Life, Daisy Haggard and Two Brothers Picture are reuniting for Maya, a dark comedy about witness protection.  

Billed as a ‘new take on the thriller genre’, it casts an eye on witness protection in the UK and the lengths a mother will go to to protect her daughter when the system fails her. 

It takes a ‘warm, honest look at extreme parenting ‘while also examining how women escaping predatory men can so often be let down by the justice system.  

In addition, Playground Entertainment’s cyber thriller The Undeclared War returns for a second series, after debuting in 2022. It is co-produced with Stonehenge Films and Universal International Studios. 

Simon Pegg and Hannah Khalique-Brown are returning to star, alongside new addition Siân Brooke (Blue Lights). The new series is written by Colin Teevan, taking over from Peter Kosminsky from season one, and is directed by Paul McGuigan. 

C4 has also confirmed it is remaking A Woman of Substance, based on the Barbara Taylor Bradford novel of the same name and which was the broadcaster’s biggest ever drama when it first aired 40 years ago.  

The eight-part period romp follows the rise of a wronged housemaid who channels her rage over decades to become the richest woman in the world. It is being produced by The Forge and will be adapted by The Bucanneers’ showrunner Katherine Jakeways, with Roanne Bardsley. 

The slew of new projects builds on the initial slate announced last year by Ollie Madden, director of Film4 and C4 drama, in August when he revealed he was doubling C4’s drama budget and the number of commissions his department will make.  

He said: “Our commitment at Channel 4 drama is to make shows which offer a tangible point of difference, shine a light on British society in a thought-provoking and fresh way, and yet are uncompromising in their ambition to entertain. I’m proud to announce this eclectic range of new commissions which embody that ethos, and we’re confident our audiences will love.”