Adam Patterson and Declan Lawn pen investigative journalism series

BBC drama director Lindsay Salt has handed Adam Patterson and Declan Lawn’s Hot Sauce Pictures its debut commission, and greenlit projects from Clerkenwell and Drama Republic.

Patterson and Lawn, who are the scribes behind The Salisbury Poisonings and Blue Lights, have penned and will exec produce D-Notice. The duo set up Hot Sauce in 2022, later securing investment from Sony Pictures Television.

Drawing from their expertise as former investigative journalists, the series focuses on the titular mechanism which allows the government to advise journalists about national security.

Filming will take place in Belfast and London on the 6 x 60-minute series, the pair’s third BBC project following Dancing Ledge’s The Salisbury Poisonings and Two Cities Television/Gallagher Films’ Blue Lights. The creative director is Helen Ziegler.

Baby Reindeer indie Clerkenwell is to produce the dark comedy Shy & Lola for BBC1.

The six-part series is based on the French drama Cheyenne and Lola, written by Virginie Brac and produced by Lincoln TV and StudioCanal.

It will star Hayley Squires (The Night Manager) as cleaner Shy and Bel Powley (A Small Light) as ex-model Lola, two very different women who become allies and crime bosses in a small coastal town in the North of England.

It hails from the writer behind Apple Tree Yard, Amanda Coe. Filming is set to begin this spring around Hull and Leeds.

Coe said: “With such a rich and spiky central relationship at its core, Shy & Lola is a dream of a show to write, full of fun, action and emotion. I can’t wait to see our hugely exciting cast and director bring it to life.”

Exec producer Rachelle Constant added: “Amanda has written a brilliantly bold series centred on a dynamic female duo, which blends dark comedy with propulsive storytelling. We’re thrilled to have Hayley and Bel as our leads, alongside an exceptional cast and crew.”

The executive producers are Coe, Rachelle Constant and Petra Fried, while Sam Donovan (Severance) is lead director and Nadia Jaynes (The Responder) is the producer. Rachael Stephenson is associate executive producer, and the executive producer for the BBC is Jo McClellan. Additional episodes are written by Emilie Robson and Alys Metcalf.

Rounding out the orders, Riot Women indie Drama Republic is behind the 8 x 30-minute series 1536, based on Ava Pickett’s play which is heading to the West End this summer.

Set in Tudor England, it focuses on three young women in an Essex village whose friendships are tested after Anne Boleyn is killed and the position of Queen opens.

Pickett, who has also written for Lisa McGee’s new Netflix comedy How To Get To Heaven from Belfast, will adapt her play.

She said: “1536 is something I am immensely proud of and I feel so lucky and privileged to have the chance to bring Anna, Jane and Mariella to a wider audience and to build out their lives even more.

“In a world where every decision made in the corridors of power ricochets through all of our lives, this story feels more relevant than ever.”

Pickett exec produces alongside Jude Liknaitzky, Roanna Benn, Rebecca de Souza and Chloe Beeson.

De Souza said: “Audiences were knocked out by her play 1536; it is so bold and entertaining, but it also creeps under your skin, leaving a profound warning for the modern world – a period show from a fresh and urgent viewpoint.”

Salt added: “From the moment we saw Ava’s play we knew that we had to have the TV version on the BBC. Visceral, funny, provocative, timely and full of courage, this is a piece of work like no other.

“Ava is an exceptional voice, so we feel very lucky to be working with her and the brilliant team at Drama Republic to bring three iconic female characters to the screen.”