Hat Trick's ITV crime drama

Hat Trick Productions has signed a deal with ITV to develop a new crime drama populated by "strong women in peril".

The programme will be based on one of Sophie Hannah's trilogy of crime novels Little Face, Hurting Distance and The Point of Rescue, which feature detective Simon Waterhouse and his boss and on-off love interest Charlie Zailer. Each book is equally split between their hunt for the truth and the story of an ordinary woman who finds herself in extraordinary circumstances. The project is being overseen by Laura Mackie at ITV and Hat Trick head of drama Mark Redhead. No writer has yet been hired to work on the script, but it is being developed with a view to becoming a returning drama.