The BBC has just revealed an exciting new slate of upcoming programmes, including a new season of Black Ops and a drama exploring the menopause by Happy Valley writer Sally Wainwright.
Making the announcement during the BBC’s spotlight session at the Edinburgh TV Festival, the broadcaster said that six new shows are in the works.
The first of these is the six-episode series Hot Flush, a drama once again set in Wainwright’s hometown of Hebden Bridge. It will tell the story of five women around menopause-age who start a punk-rock band, and will look at the many facets of their complicated lives.
“I’ve been wanting to write a series like this for a long time. It’s a celebration of women of a certain age, and all the life-stuff they suddenly find themselves negotiating/dealing with,” said award-winning writer Wainwright. “The show is also my own personal homage toâ¯Rock Follies of ‘77, and the feisty Little Ladies who woke me up to what I wanted to do with my life when I was 13.”
Black Ops, BBC’s comedy thriller is also set to return for a second season. Gbemisola Ikumelo and Hammed Animashaun will reprise their roles as Met community support officers Dom and Kay. In the second chapter the duo once again get drawn into London’s criminal underbelly.
“It’s been such a joy to see how audiences have got behind this show,” said Ikumelo. “So, it feels like a no-brainer to get the band back together and create more danger, adventure and laughs for everyone. This next season promises to have Dom and Kay really surprising us. Can’t wait!”
The BBC also announced The Jetty, a new four-part drama starring Doctor Who’s Jenna Coleman. The story will follow Coleman’s character Ember Manning, a rookie detective in Lancashire who tries to find the link between several seemingly unrelated events. There’s a fire at a holiday home, a missing person cold case, and a sexual abuse case concerning a man and two underage girls.
Written and created by Cat Jones (Harlots, EastEnders, Waterloo Road), the show has been described by the BBC as asking the “big questions about sexual morality, identity and memory, in the places that Me Too has left behind.”
“I’m delighted to be returning to the BBC to be a part of The Jetty,” said Coleman.
The broadcaster then unveiled a new six-part untitled mystery drama, written by Nicôle Lecky who won a BAFTA for her 2022 BBC musical drama, Mood. The new series will follow Black businesswoman Lorna from South London and her best friend Juliet, a more privileged white woman. They now live in the same exclusive gated community, Primrose Estate. The drama begins when their daughters Grace and Allegra are caught up in a private school scandal.
“Dark humour, big twists and bags of attitude are what makes this show so juicy – not to mention a killer soundtrack and wardrobe. I can’t wait to bring it to the screen,” said Lecky.
The BBC will also be releasing a documentary exploring how some people who are disabled are raising concerns about assisted suicide. The documentary, which is written and presented by actor and disability campaigner Liz Carr, will explore how some disabled people fear that legalising euthanasia could put their lives in jeopardy.
“Too many disabled people will have had the experience of someone, often a complete stranger, telling them, ‘if I was like you, I’d rather be dead’. Putting such low value on our lives has been reported in medical settings when disabled and older people have ‘do not resuscitate’ orders placed on their medical notes without their consent,” said Carr.
“This documentary is about challenging the assumptions behind these actions and shining a light on the many grey areas in this often one sided debate.”
Finally, the BBC has announced a new six-part detective series, Virdee, starring The Great’s Sacha Dhawan. Based on AA Dhand’s crime novels about Sikh policeman Harry Virdee, who lives and works in Bradford, the story follows the cop as he balances his difficult personal life (he is disowned by his family after he marries a Muslim woman) with his professional life (there’s a killer on the loose).
“Like me, DCI Harry Virdee is a proud Brit who dreams big and whilst he is passionate about his heritage, it is not something which solely defines him,” said Dhand. “He refuses to be shackled by the past and believes in merging worlds, cultures and identities; no matter the cost. Hey, aim big or go home – this is Yorkshire.”
Lindsay Salt, Director of BBC Drama, said: “I’m passionate about supporting writers at every stage in their careers and we are thrilled to be working with Amit on his very first drama for television.”
