The Stage

Morgan pens asylum drama for C4

Published Tuesday 28 November 2006 at 13:50 by Liz Thomas

Channel 4 is developing a new Spooks-style thriller, tackling immigration and asylum in Britain today.

Award-winning writer Abi Morgan, who wrote acclaimed dramas Sex Traffic and Murder, is working on a six-part series that insiders say will be an honest but controversial look at the current situation in the UK.

Morgan told The Stage: “It is a fast-paced thriller looking at what is going on with the immigration service and with asylum. This is something that is rarely out of the papers, is very contentious and should be probed. Good drama should ask questions and make you think - but it shouldn’t lecture.”

The series will be made by Kudos, the independent production house behind high-concept hits such as Life on Mars, Spooks and Hustle. In the past year, Channel 4 has pledged to bring more topical dramas to screens, following on from the success of The Deal and A Very Social Secretary.

Francis Hopkinson, Channel 4’s senior commissioner for drama, has said it is important for the genre to broach controversial topics. He explained: “Drama needs to get angrier and more political. The government has been given a really easy ride so far and that must change. We need to change the reactionary consensus but also the soft left consensus as well in our work. Drama doesn’t really upset enough people and it needs to do that.”