Under the sun

It's really difficult to innovate in television drama. Here's the latest list from BBC tyros Ben Stephenson and his new master, Controller BBC1 Danny Cohen.

One Night, 4 x 60 event drama, written by Paul Smith, made by BBC Drama Production

A gripping event drama set over one blistering hot summer night when nerves are frayed and tensions ride high. Each episode is one character's stand-alone story which tells the events of that night from four different points of view. 

Anyone remember Talking to A Stranger by John Hopkins ?  Judi Dench, Maurice Denham, Margery Mason and Michael Bryant ?
 

Call The Midwife, 6 x 60 series, written by Heidi Thomas (Upstairs Downstairs, Cranford), made by Neal Street Productions

Adapted by Heidi Thomas from Jennifer Worth's best selling memoir, Call The Midwife is a moving, funny, colourful look at midwifery and family in 1950's East End London.

The District Nurse, created by Julia Smith and Tony Holland, for Nerys Hughes ?

Bound (working title), 6 x 60 series, written by Julie Geary (Secret Diary Of A Call Girl, Lip Service), made by Tiger Aspect Productions

The series is about of a group of women who have lost the men in their lives to Her Majesty's Pleasure.  Expect crime and jeopardy, family and sacrifice, and love and romance

Any resonance with Widows, by Lynda La Plante ?

Morton, 8 x 60 series, written by Frank Spotnitz made by Kudos Film and Television

This is the story of a spy with a bull's eye on her back, a human target unable to trust anyone at any time, even the man she loves. She is, quite literally, running for her life.

Man In A Suitcase becomes Woman ?

Great Expectations, 3 x 60, written by Sarah Phelps (Oliver Twist, EastEnders), made by BBC Drama Production

Sarah Phelps' bold new adaptation will give us the heart and guts of Dickens at his very best. Suspenseful and thrilling, epecially for next Christmas on BBC One.

I rest my case.