BBC One smells New Blood, poaches Cox

UK broadcaster BBC One has commissioned an Anthony Horowitz-penned 7x60mins crime drama from Jill Green’s Eleventh Hour Films, ordered another scripted series and poached physicist Brian Cox from sister net BBC Two.

Eleventh Hour’s New Blood aims to “show a unique side of modern London, through the eyes of two outsiders”, while Love Nina is an adaptation of the Nina Stibbe novel Love Nina, which About A Boy author Nick Hornby is adapting for TV.

Presenter Cox, meanwhile, will front Forces of Nature, a 4x60mins series that will look at why Earth is the most colouful planet in our solar system. He is best known for shows such as the Wonders off… franchise, and becomes the latest BBC Two talent to switch to its larger-rating sister network.

“Brian Cox will enthuse and inspire audiences in his debut series for BBC One,” said BBC One controller Charlotte Moore. “Revealing some of the most extraordinary phenomena and events on Earth, he will set out to illuminate our understanding of the planet like never before, bringing science to a mainstream audience in a surprising way.”

New Blood will follow a pair of junior investigators, both struggling financially and personally, brought together by two seemingly unconnected cases.

“This is Eleventh Hour Films first BBC drama commission so it’s an exciting moment and thrilling to be at the helm of a brand new Horowitz crime drama that truly embraces multicultural London with a really fun ‘bromance’ at its heart.”

“For a long time I’ve been wondering how to take a fresh approach to crime drama and I hope that with New Blood I’ve succeeded,” said Horowitz. “This is a show about the so-called Y generation – young people starting out in their careers, the powerless against the powerful.”

Green and Horowitz worked together on ITV period drama Foyle’s War, which US-based DVD distributor Acorn Media Group acquired all rights to 2010 after Green’s former company, Greenlit Rights, went into administration.

Green, however, managed to keep the rights to Greenlit’s development slate of existing Greenlit properties, and went on to launch produce new seasons of shows such as BBC Two’s Vexed using the Eleventh Hour banner.

BBC One’s final new commission, the 5x30mins Love Nina, comes from See-Saw Films, and will follow a teenager that moves to London to become a nanny.