The U.Okay.’s Studio Crook has acquired the rights to develop “Damaged Goods,” the primary of Helen Black’s “Lilly Valentine” authorized e-book collection, right into a returning tv drama collection “Valentine” (6 x 60’).
“Valentine” will observe Lilly Valentine, an virtually divorced single mom on the fallacious aspect of 40 who excels at her job at an area Oldham legislation agency. She will go to any size to assist her purchasers, on the expense of each her son and her practically ex-husband.
Black, an ex-lawyer, turned identified for her common crime novels primarily based on her personal experiences earlier than turning to script writing together with co-writing Season 2 of Jimmy McGovern’s jail drama “Time,” which is presently airing on BBC One.
Studio Crook gained funding from Channel 4’s Indie Growth Fund earlier this yr. The “Lilly Valentine” collection was revealed by Harper Collins and bought in a number of languages world wide. The deal was brokered by Black’s agent, Frances Arnold at Rochelle Stevens company.
Black stated: “Lilly Valentine was the first character I ever created, and readers couldn’t get enough of her courage and her flaws in equal measure. She’s a working class scrapper, a lawyer who won’t give up on her clients and I love seeing characters like Lilly on TV; seemingly ordinary yet magnificent women with so much on their plate yet still the funniest people you’ll meet. Having worked previously with Studio Crook’s head of scripted Justine Potter on my first commission, I know that Lilly is in good hands.”
Matt Crook, managing director of Studio Crook, added: “Lily Valentine is a force of nature, and from the first page of ‘Damaged Goods’ we knew we had to bring her to the screen. It’s a pleasure to work with Helen Black on adapting her work, the series is just brilliantly entertaining, heartbreaking and universally relatable in equal measure which is exactly the type of story we want to tell.”