The Queen writer Peter Morgan is to pen an ITV drama about Christopher Jefferies - the man wrongly linked to the murder of Joanna Yeates in 2010.
The commercial broadcaster is close to finalising a commission for the 2 x 90-minute serial, Lost Honour, from Downton Abbey producer Carnival Films.
ITV and Carnival are still ironing out some of the details of the production, including securing a director, although this is expected to be completed in a matter of days.
Morgan specialises in transforming historical events into film and TV drama. The Queen, which starred Helen Mirren, has been his most high-profile project to date, but he has also written Frost/Nixon and HBO film The Special Relationship.
His last television project, Julie Walters series The Jury II, was stripped across a week on ITV in November 2011 and averaged an audience of 6.56m (22.79%) viewers.
Former school teacher Jefferies was erroneously arrested following the murder of his tenant Yeates in December 2010 and was vilified in the press, who depicted him as a strange and dark man.
In 2011 he accepted “substantial” damages in a libel case against eight newspapers, including the Sun, the Daily Mirror, the Sunday Mirror, the Daily Mail and the Express and Daily Star.
Later that year, Vincent Tabak was found guilty of murdering Yeates and was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 20 years.
Lost Honour will be overseen by ITV director of drama Steve November.
Hear from some of the biggest names in TV including Danny Cohen, Peter Fincham, Ben Frow and Stuart Murphy.
2 July at Bafta.
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