Poldark producers and Casualty creator to bring modern day relationship drama Desire to ITV

ITV commissions five part drama serial, Desire, written by BAFTA award winning screenwriter Jeremy Brock and produced by Mammoth Screen

ITV has commissioned Desire, a new five-part drama serial, written by acclaimed screenwriter Jeremy Brock.

Head of Drama Polly Hill has commissioned Desire from leading independent production company Mammoth Screen. Polly will oversee production for the network.

Jeremy Brock is known for his extensive career in television and film, having co-created Casualty aged 26, and written many feature films including Mrs Brown and The Last King of Scotland. Desire was developed by Rebecca Keane, Mammoth’s Creative Director. Mammoth Screen’s Damien Timmer and Julia Stannard (War and Peace) will executive produce the serial.

The story focuses on Leia, who is just about managing to hold her life together in the face of a messy divorce when she finds herself falling in love with an intensity she’s never experienced before. It’s the wrong man at the wrong time but Leia can’t give the relationship up. Desire looks at what happens when a passion is so powerful it starts to jeopardise your job, your home, and even your kids…

Commented Polly Hill: “I am so thrilled to be working with Jeremy. Desire is such a beautiful and compelling story, dealing with the intense passion of a new relationship, the tricky and messy business of divorce and the ultimate love for your children. I am proud to be making this with Mammoth Screen for ITV.”

Damien Timmer said: “It’s a privilege to work with the great Jeremy Brock on this very bold, authored drama. Leia has really got under our skin and we look forward to sharing her story with the audience!”

Jeremy Brock said: “For a long time, I’ve wanted to write about what it feels like to be a parent, to try and balance the unconditionality of parental love with the shock of adult passion. Our values are bound up with our identity… children, family, work, love, our ideologies. I wanted to write about what happens when all these lights, by which we steer, are suddenly torn away and we are offered the stark choice: adapt or risk losing everything. It’s a huge privilege to be given the opportunity to write this big, passionate, messy slice of contemporary life, and I look forward to working with Polly Hill at ITV and with Mammoth Screen.”

Desire will be filmed in Sheffield during the summer of 2017, and details of casting will be revealed closer to filming commencing. The series will be distributed internationally by ITV Studios Global Entertainment.