Kaufmann's 'Black Tudors' to be 'epic' TV drama

The production company behind the ITV series "Vera" and BBC1's "Shetland" has acquired exclusive television rights to Black Tudors: The Untold Story by Miranda Kaufmann (Oneworld).

Kate Bartlett's drama label, formerly known as ITV Studios, London Drama, and now rebranded as Silverprint Pictures, bought rights from Emily Hayward Whitlock at The Artists Partnership and Charlie Viney at The Viney Shaw Agency. Silverprint plans to develop stories from the book into "an epic and ambitious returning drama series."

Black Tudors is a history of African settlers living freely in Tudor England and was critically very well-received when published last year. Oneworld will publish the paperback in September.

Bartlett said: “Winning the rights to Black Tudors is a great example of the direction of Silverprint Pictures. This is a previously untold story of Britain’s multicultural heritage, which lends itself to the increasing demand for thought-provoking, high end drama which will appeal to viewers from around the world.”

Silverprint is also behind the forthcoming ITV crime thriller series "Dark Heart", inspired by characters created by crime novelist Adam Creed.