A tranche of new dramas has been greenlit by the BBC, headed a project from Shane Meadows. marking the writer”s first ever BBC television drama.

The auteur has adapted Benjamin Myers” novel The Gallows Pole, fictionalising the true story of David Hartley and the Cragg Vale Coiners.

Set against the backdrop of the coming industrial revolution in eighteenth century Yorkshire, the drama follows the enigmatic David Hartley, as he assembles a gang of weavers and land-workers to embark upon a revolutionary criminal enterprise that will capsize the economy and become the biggest fraud in British history.

Meadows (pictured) said: “The Gallows Pole is an incredible true story, little known outside of Yorkshire, about a group of very naughty men and women who started clipping and counterfeiting coins out in the Moors, as a way to keep themselves and their community alive. I”ve never made a period drama before so I”m absolutely buzzing, and to be doing it with Piers at the BBC, his incredible team, and Element Pictures is nothing short of an honour.”

The Gallows Pole will be produced by Element Pictures and executive produced by Piers Wenger and Tom Lazenby for the BBC.

Director of drama Piers Wenger also revealed the corporation is working with Michaela Coel on another project, more on which would be confirmed in due course.

Details on five other dramas were confirmed at the same time:

Champion

An original drama series from Candice Carty-Williams, , Champion tells the story of what happens when fame collides with family.

Bosco Champion, a UK rap sensation before he was jailed, is home from prison, and he”s ready to dominate the music industry once more. A love letter to Black British music set in south London, Champion is the celebration of a sound that has long been the beating heart of our culture.

Champion is executive produced by Jo McClellan for the BBC, Bryan Elsley, Dave Evans and Danielle Scott-Haughton for Balloon Entertainment, Charlie Pattinson, Willow Grylls and Imogen O”Sullivan for New Pictures, part of theAll3Media Group, and Candice Carty-Williams. The producer is Joy Gharoro-Akpojotor. Further writers include Isis Davis, Emma Dennis-Edwards, Ameir Brown and Edem Wornoo.

Everything I Know About Love

Adapted by journalist Dolly Alderton from her own bestselling memoir of the same name, Everything I Know About Love, gives an unflinching account of surviving your 20s.

Everything I Know About Love is executive produced by Jo McClellan for the BBC, Dolly Alderton, and Surian Fletcher-Jones, Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner for Working Title Television.

Marriage

From writer-director Stefan Golaszewski comes Marriage, a four part drama about a couple who need each other.

The show examines in intimate detail the fears, frustrations and salvation of marriage and the comfort that can only be found in togetherness.

Marriage is executive produced by Tommy Bulfin for the BBC, Beth Willis and George Faber for The Forge and Richard Laxton and Stefan Golaszewski for The Money Men.

Cash Carraway (w/t)

Inspired by her book Skint Estate, Cash Carraway (w/t) is a wild and punky tale of being trapped below the poverty line and doing everything it takes to escape.

Daisy May Cooper stars as a young working class single mum living with her ten-year-old daughter in the brutal lonely landscape of austerity Britain.

Cash Carraway is executive produced by Jo McClellan for the BBC and Sally Woodward Gentle and Lee Morris for Sid Gentle Films and Cash Carraway. Sid Gentle”s head of development, Henrietta Colvin, is associate producer.

Wahala

Adapted by writer Theresa Ikoko from Nikki May”s debut novel of the same name, Wahala follows three thirty-something Anglo-Nigerian female friends living in London, successfully navigating a world that mixes roast dinners with jollof rice.

Wahala is executive produced by Mona Qureshi for the BBC and Elizabeth Kilgarriff for Firebird Pictures.