The Siege is part of a trio of commissions announced by Channel 4

Channel 4 has ordered a trio of dramas from AC Chapter One, Roughcut Television and Element Pictures about the 1980 siege of the Iranian embassy in London, the perils of moving house and life in post-Troubles Belfast respectively.

Slow Horses writer Will Smith’s adaptation of Ben McIntyre’s The Siege, revealed in 2024 to be in the works at Patrick Spence’s AC Chapter One, has been confirmed for the channel with Danny Dyer, Sherwood’s David Morrissey, and Motaz Malhees, star of Oscar-nominated film The Voice of Hind Rajab, leading the cast.

The six-part series marks ARTE France’s first co-commission with a UK broadcaster, with Universal International Studios, a division of Universal Studio Group, also on board.

The Siege recounts the events of 30 April 1980, when six armed Arab Iranian separatists burst into the Iranian embassy in London, taking hostage the 26 people inside and demanding autonomy for their people.

Over the next six days, the gunmen, the hostages and the police each struggled for control of the situation while the SAS mounted plans for a daring mission to break the siege that would be witnessed by the watching world.

The cast also includes Omid Djalili, Asim Chaudhry, Mark Bonnar and Sean Pertwee.

Smith and director Lewis Arnold (The Hack, Sherwood) executive produce alongside Spence, Kat Pugsley and Macintyre, with Richard Stokes producing. NBCUniversal Global TV Distribution will handle international sales.

C4 chief content officer Ian Katz promised the drama will change how people understand the siege and show how close the SAS operation came to disaster.

“The show is a heart-stopping, emotional thriller that reveals the little-known motivations of the hapless hostage-takers and the very human reality of what went on inside the embassy as the world looked on and Britain’s most lethal soldiers practiced their high stakes assault,” he said.

Wrong Move

Roughcut Television’s 6 x 60-minute dark comic thriller comes from Coma creator Ben Edwards charting the perils of buying and selling property.

Michael and Catherine, a couple in their 40s, are making a marriage-saving move into their forever home, selling to soon-to-be parents Stella and Juliette, who in turn are selling to first-time buyers Asif and Emily. This trio of households find themselves at the mercy of the psychopath at the top of the chain, detective sergeant Trevor Bamford.

Obsessed with getting his money’s worth, Trevor calls off the move the night before the sale, causing hell for everyone else. As the buyers come together to sort the problem, a confrontation has deadly consequences.

Ash Atalla and Alex Smith executive producing for Roughcut, the producer is Rebecca Davies and the director is Rene Pannevis. Fremantle will handle international sales for the series, which begins filming in the spring.

C4 interim head of drama Gwawr Lloyd, described Wrong Move as “a gripping, bold thriller that captures the pressure of moving house and reveals the hidden lives of both the vendors and the buyers. It cleverly exposes just how high the stakes can be within the property chain and how much of a roller‑coaster the process becomes for our characters.”

Close to Home

Element Pictures is behind Michael Magee’s four-part adaptation of his award-winning novel, which tells the story of Sean, who finds himself back in Belfast from university and back into his old habits.

Back in the orbit of his mother and brother and the secrets they keep, his life is made up of mad all-nighters, borrowed money, missing rent and casual jobs that fall through until one night he assaults a stranger at a party and his life tips into chaos.

Christopher Aird, Ed Guiney and Andrew Lowe exec produce for Fremantle-backed Element, alongside Magee. Michael Dawson Diarmuid Goggins and star Anthony Boyle also serve as executive producers, with Martin Mahon producing and Goggins directing. Fremantle will handle global distribution.

Filming commences in Belfast this month and support comes from Northern Ireland Screen and Fís Éireann / Screen Ireland.

Boyle (Say Nothing, House of Guinness) leads the cast as Sean, with Jessica Reynolds (A Woman of Substance, Kneecap) as Mairéad, Seamus O’Hara (House of Guinness, Say Nothing) as Anthony and Oisín Thompson (Trespasses) as Ryan.

Commissioner Gemma Boswell said: “Close To Home explores the emotionally rich landscape of West Belfast through the eyes of Sean, played by the fantastic Anthony Boyle. We’re delighted to showcase Mick’s beautiful writing with this timely and evocative story of a young generation finding their place in the world.”

Close to Home and The Siege were commissioned by Lloyd and Boswell, while Wrong Move was ordered by Lloyd and commissioning executive Louise Donald.

The titles join a line-up of C4 dramas that include A Woman of Substance, Jack Thorne-penned Falling, Steven Moffat’s Downing Street series Number 10, Russell T Davies’ Tip Toe and Roy Williams’ legal drama Pierre.