BBC announces new 'Luther' two-part event and second season of 'Top of the Lake'

LONDON, Nov. 20 (UPI) -- The BBC says it has ordered 43.5 hours of new dramatic programming for 2015-16, including a two-part Luther event starring Idris Elba and a second season of Top of the Lake written by Jane Campion.

"Drama is something that is in the lifeblood of this country and in the DNA of the BBC, too. We are making some fantastic dramas at the moment and I am looking forward to some more stand-out successes next year," BBC Director-General Tony Hall announced Wednesday.

"Only the BBC supports the range of writers and ideas that these new announcements demonstrate," added Ben Stephenson, controller of BBC Drama Commissioning. "This massive investment signals the future direction of BBC drama. Once regarded as only the home of traditional period drama, I now believe we are the home of the best writers and the most ambitious modern drama. The point of the BBC is to deliver range and risk above and beyond other U.K. broadcasters, and I believe the success of our drama offering this year and the announcements we are making today pave the way for an exciting future."

Among the highlights of the lineup is director Richard Eyre's small-screen adaptation of Ronald Harwood's play The Dresser, with Anthony Hopkins and Ian McKellen working together for the first time. Also ordered is the limited drama series One of Us, a modern thriller set in the Highlands of Scotland and Edinburgh, penned by The Missing scribes Harry and Jack Williams.

The slate will include as well the cop show Cuffs; the political thriller Undercover; a re-imagining of Joseph Conrad's classic The Secret Agent; SS-GB, an adaptation of Len Deighton's 1940s-set novel by the writers of the James Bond films Robert Wade and Neal Purvis; and an animated version of Roald Dahl's Revolting Rhymes.