Shortly after sister channel E4 announced the commission of new drama series Youngers, Channel 4 has announced that they have ordered a new four-part drama titled Southcliffe.
The drama, which hails from writer Tony Grisoni (Red Riding), tells the story of a fictional English market town devastated by a spate of shootings which take place over a single day. It explores tragedy, grief, responsibility and redemption seen through the eyes of a journalist returning to the small town of his childhood, and those closest to the victims of the tragedy. Warp Films is producing, with Peter Carlton and Sophie Gardiner serving as executive producers and Sean Durkin on-board as director.
Speaking of the drama, Tony Grisoni, said: “Southcliffe is a fictional market town inhabited by fictional characters, but with similarities to many actual people and places in Britain today. Invisible people, anonymous places. The inexplicable chain of events at the dark heart of this 4-part drama shatters Time and Space for Southcliffe’s inhabitants. Violence and sudden bereavement confronts them with emotions they are unequipped to understand. Rather than analyse or moralise about our characters’ actions, we share in them. Southcliffe is an anthem to ordinary people’s ability to reinvent themselves in the face of ultimate darkness.”
While Piers Wenger, Channel 4’s Head of Drama, added: “Tony Grisoni’s unique ability to convey the darkness and subtleties of human behaviour is in full evidence in these four brilliant scripts and I’m delighted that Warp Films and Tony have found a world class director like Sean Durkin to bring them to life.”
