Merlin looks set to be replaced by a new fantasy drama by the BBC, as their new drama Atlantis is set to debut this autumn and fill the channel’s Saturday evening slot.
Drama and the BBC are inseparable – it is written through the BBC like a stick of rock. No other broadcaster in the world has drama so firmly in its DNA.”
Created by Howard Overman, who’s the mind behind Misfits, Vexed and Merlin, this new thirteen part series will see viewers follow a young man called Jason as he goes beneath the waves to a land where Greek myths come to life.
Shooting for the drama will begin in Wales and Morocco this April, although no-one is confirmed yet as being in the cast.
It’s not the only new drama headed for BBC One, as the channel confirmed it’s autumn line-up today.
Included are Death Comes To Pemberley, a Pride And Prejudice sequel with a twist that will see Elizabeth Bennett and Mr Darcy caught up in a murder scandal, Breakdown, a show focussing one a man’s search for his son when the child gets kidnapped on holiday in France and Jamaica Inn, a period romance set in 1820 Cornwall.
The Spooks slot that Hunted tried to fill last year will this time be tackled by The Interceptor, a new drama following a top secret and cutting edge law security force trying to track down Britain’s most dangerous and ruthless criminals.
BBC Controller of Drama Ben Stephenson said about the announcements that “Drama and the BBC are inseparable – it is written through the BBC like a stick of rock. No other broadcaster in the world has drama so firmly in its DNA.”
He carried on to say “I want to make BBC drama a cultural institution – a touchstone for quality and modernity with all the excitement and glamour of a curtain going up. My aim is to build a BBC drama department that has an enormous international reputation.
“That means making us more British than ever - it is about applying the Danny Boyle vision to our work - a bold, adventurous, authorial approach that exports because of its Britishness not despite it. A BBC that feels inspiringly creative - where there is a buzz and creativity and anything goes optimism.”