MURDER ON LINE ONE: BBC COMMISSION DRAMA ADAPTATION OF JEREMY VINE NOVEL

The BBC have reportedly commissioned a TV drama adaptation of Jeremy Vine's novel Murder On Line One, which is set in the Devon town of Sidmouth.

The synopsis reads: "Darkness looms over sunny Sidmouth, when an unsolved murder comes to the attention of late-night radio talk show host Edward Temmis.

Recently sacked from his beloved job after a devastating tragedy, Edward is cast adrift – until he meets Stevie, whose grandmother, a devoted listener, died in a suspicious fire last year. Well, nobody hurts his listeners and helping Stevie might just give him the purpose he needs...

"Joined by his old fling, Kim, they discover Stevie's grandmother wasn't the only one of his listeners targeted – this is just the tip of the iceberg. But who is pursuing his ageing audience and why? And can Edward, Stevie and Kim get to the bottom of this mystery before it’s too late?"

Jeremy Vine said (via The Sun): "Just today I have had a meeting about doing a TV thing on the book and I just always guard myself against disappointment but this is a production company and they are going to set it in Sidmouth and they are going to film it and the BBC has commissioned it."

Meanwhile, Ella Bruccoleri (Call the Midwife, Bridgerton, Paddington in Peru) will star as Mary Bennet in ten-part drama The Other Bennet Sister (10×30′), produced by Bad Wolf (His Dark Materials, Industry) for BBC iPlayer and BBC One, in a co-production with BritBox International.

Sarah Quintrell (The Power, Ellen) will write nine of the ten half-hour episodes, with Maddie Dai (We Were Dangerous) writing one episode. The series is based on the bestselling novel of the same name by Janice Hadlow.

Bruccoleri will take on the role of one of Jane Austen’s most unassuming characters: Mary Bennet - the seemingly unremarkable and overlooked middle sister in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. The series takes as its premise that – when it comes to the Bennet sisters – while we dream of being Lizzy, in reality most of us are more like Mary…

The series follows Mary as she steps out of her sisters’ shadows in search of her own identity and purpose – finding herself in the middle of an epic love story along the way. Her journey will see her leave her family home in Meryton for the soirees of Regency London and the peaks and vales of the Lake District, all in search of independence, self-love and reinvention.

More details on both details will be announced in due course.