BBC adapting Nicholas Blake's The Beast Must Die

Adapted from Deadline:

The BBC is adapting the Nigel Strangeways novel The Beast Must Die written by Nicholas Blake, the nom de plume of poet Cecil Day-Lewis, that was first published in 1938.

The BBC adaptation is being written by Gaby Chiappe, who wrote the  Gemma Arterton feature film Their Finest and has written on a number of British crime dramas including ITV’s The Level and Vera as well as BBC’s Shetland. It is being set up as a series, likely to be five or six episodes, and is set to be exec produced by Nathaniel Parker, the actor known the lead role in The Inspector Lynley Mysteries.

The series could turn into a long-running franchise for the BBC as Blake/Day Lewis wrote 16 books featuring the detective.

The Beast Must Die has been adapted for the big screen a number of times over the years including in 1969 as an Italian thriller directed by Claude Chabrol and in 1952 as an Argentine thriller directed by Roman Vinoly Barreto.

HT: BV Lawson's In Reference to Murder & J. Kingston Pierce's The RapSheet