EXCLUSIVE: Benjamin Zephaniah’s memoir Life and Rhymes is being developed into a TV series by Baby Cow and Timewasters creator Daniel Lawrence Taylor.
The project forms part of a funded development slate from Steve Coogan’s indie, unveiled by CEO Sarah Monteith to Deadline earlier this week, which also features shows about Margaret Thatcher and forensic scientist Patricia Wiltshire.
The Life and Rhymes of Benjamin Zephaniah tells the story of the celebrated poet, artist, activist and Peaky Blinders actor who was born into poverty and produced radical poetry that led him to perform in every continent of the world, meeting the likes of Nelson Mandela and The Wailers along the way.
BAFTA-winning Timewasters creator Lawrence Taylor is developing with Zephaniah on the show that is in late-stage development with a yet-to-be-revealed UK broadcaster.
Having been elevated to CEO two years ago, Monteith said Life and Rhymes encapsulates her and Baby Cow’s approach to creating unconventional shows that are nonetheless broad and can capture domestic and global audiences.
“You can’t get more unconventional than Benjamin Zephaniah,” she said. “Born into abuse and poverty in Birmingham, he had a problematic relationship with his father and is now a gentleman, farmer and vegan. That journey is down to the unconventionality of character and in that journey we are saying something about the journey of Black men through the decades.”
Having Lawrence Taylor on board speaks to Baby Cow’s desire to be a “place for comedy writers to move to drama,” said Monteith. The writer-actor, who is also starring in Netflix’s Kaos, made his name as the creator of ITV2’s Timewasters but has since moved into the more conventional drama space with the likes of upcoming BBC Three show Breeders about underprivileged Black students in a boarding school.
“Steve Coogan was a pioneer of moving from comedy and drama so it’s nice to see comedy writers doing the same,” added Monteith. “We wanted someone who ‘has something to say’ and can help place Benjamin’s voice front and centre, and Daniel offers that.”
Margaret Thatcher project
Monteith also revealed the BBC Studios-owned indie is developing a project about a pivotal moment in the career of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, although she didn’t give any more concrete detail.
The as-yet-untitled TV series will “say something about the nature of debate in our country,” explained Monteith.
“We have a very polarized, divided nation and are struggling to come together,” she said. “What we are trying to do is see what can we learn from the past and how we might do things differently. Both Thatcher and Zephaniah do that in very different ways.”
Joining the Thatcher project on the slate is a series based on Traces, the memoir of forensic scientist Patricia Wiltshire, along with a darkly comic murder mystery titled Steel Trap from up-and-comer Nikhil Parmar. Previously announced projects include Carey Mulligan-starring movie One for the Money and a Jeff Pope/Coogan-helmed adaptation of Princess Diana’s brother Charles Spencer’s To Catch a King.
In Wiltshire, Call the Midwife scribe Jess Williams is taking a story-of-the-week approach to forensic detective stories while writing an “unconventionally pioneering character who is super smart and relentless,” according to Monteith. “Women on TV often have a fatal flaw but this woman in her fifties is unapologetic and brusque, like a female version of Sherlock,” she said.
Sarah Monteith: “I would hate to think that inflation could drive us out of being able to do anything other than safe programing” Image: Baby Cow
The Steel Trap, meanwhile, is centered on a death at an Indian wedding, exploring issues around race and the complexity of social status.
Risk aversion
Monteith is attempting to get these shows over the line at a difficult time for UK TV drama, with the likes of Sister boss Jane Featherstone and Studiocanal CEO Anna Marsh both recently raising concerns over inflation and forecasting a “bursting of the [scripted TV] bubble,” while the writers strike rages in the U.S.
Monteith’s hope is that commissioners aren’t forced into a period of risk aversion by this combination of economic headwinds but she acknowledged that “inflation [in drama] cannot be sustained” at current levels.
“There’s a real pride in great British content and I would hate to think that inflation could drive us out of being able to do anything other than safe programing,” she said. “We like to push the envelope and be provocative and the best British content works on those levels.”
The commissioning slowdown created by the writers strike may help with reducing inflation and market correction but Monteith stressed that the strike will be “really damaging” if it is allowed to go on for too long, as it enters its second week.