BBC One To Bring J.K. Rowling’s The Casual Vacancy To The Small Screen

Planning to air in 2014 the BBC have revealed that an adaptation of J.K. Rowling’s first novel for adults, The Casual Vacancy, is in the works. The adaptation will be from The Blair Partnership (who represent Rowling) and it has to be said should be a perfect fit for the BBC with it’s small market town Joanna Trollope style vibe.

J.K. Rowling is expected to collaborate fairly closely with the production team and she said of the news “I’m thrilled that the BBC has commissioned The Casual Vacancy. I always felt that, if it were to be adapted, this novel was best suited to television and I think the BBC is the perfect home.”

The novel is set in Pagford, seemingly, an English idyll, with a cobbled market square and an ancient abbey, but what lies behind the pretty façade is a town at war. Rich at war with poor, teenagers at war with their parents, wives at war with their husbands, teachers at war with their pupils… Pagford is not what it first seems.

Danny Cohen of the BBC also had this to say “It is thrilling to be bringing the work of J.K. Rowling to BBC One audiences. J.K. Rowling’s story-telling is of course peerless in its popularity, and I am looking forward to collaborating with her. This project highlights the ambition and scale of BBC One Drama, as well as the ability of modern television to attract the world’s biggest talent and most exciting creative ideas.”

Guaranteed to garner lots and lots of interest, the BBC will be hoping for big things for the drama, no word yet on casting or number of episodes but we’ll keep you updated as more news comes in.