The BBC has commissioned a new drama from Andrew Davies.
Davies has written screenplays for a number of the BBC's period dramas and has now penned an adaptation of Winifred Holtby's novel South Riding.
The three-part series focuses on a Yorkshire community in the 1930s and stars Anna Maxwell Martin, David Morrissey, Penelope Wilton and Douglas Henshall.
The BBC's controller of drama commissioning Ben Stephenson said: "Following on from Small Island and A Passionate Woman, we continue to reappraise the BBC's approach to period drama. There are no cosy clichés here - this little known novel paints a raw and real portrait of a rural community bustling with humanity and humour."
The BBC also revealed details of two other new shows, including a new project produced by Shameless creator Paul Abbott. Exile, written by Danny Brocklehurst, sees a son returning to examine the history of his family. The three-part series becomes an investigative crime drama when an old scandal is discovered.
Meanwhile, Five Daughters writer Stephen Butchard has penned a new 90-minute drama called Taken, which focuses on child trafficking in Britain.
Stephenson said: "BBC Drama allows original writers to do their very best work and the story going forward is about putting writers and authorship first in order to deliver audiences the range of varied and ambitious drama they expect. Andrew Davies, Danny Brocklehurst and Stephen Butchard's new work represents the range of high quality and imaginative drama that pushes the bar of what mainstream is on BBC One."
The three dramas will air next year.
Andrew Davies also wrote the BBC adaption of Fanny Hill which was much underrated and in my opinion vastly superior to "Diary of a Call" girl which aired around the same time.
