THE books of the award-winning crime writer Ann Cleeves are to be made into a new drama by BBC Scotland and ITV.
Shetland, set in Scotland, will star Douglas Henshall and will dramatise Cleeves' Shetland Islands quartet, the first novel of which, Raven Black, won a Dagger award for crime fiction.
The drama centres on Detective Jimmy Perez, a native Shetlander who has returned home. With a screenplay by David Kane, a writer for The Field of Blood, Taggart, and Rebus, it will be produced by Sue De Beauvoir and directed by Peter Hoare.
Shetland will be aired later in 2012. The two-part drama is to be executive produced by ITV Studios and Christopher Aird for BBC Scotland.
Henshall said: "I am very much looking forward to working with David Kane, filming in Scotland and being back on BBC One."
ITV Studios executive producer Elaine Collins said: "Shetland combines eccentric yet warm characters and a classic murder-mystery story with the beautiful landscape and rich history of the Shetland Islands, and we believe it will be hugely popular with viewers."
Christopher Aird, the head of drama in Scotland for the BBC, said: "Shetland has a fantastic combination of writing, acting, directing and producing talent.
"It is a hugely exciting story and part of a project to bring the very best drama to BBC Scotland in the coming years."
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