Eleventh Hour Films options Malik's This Green and Pleasant Land

Eleventh Hour Films has optioned TV rights to This Green and Pleasant Land by Ayisha Malik (Bonnier Zaffre).

The independent London-based production company, which is planning to adapt the novel into a TV mini-series, acquired rights from Jonathan Sissons at Peters Fraser + Dunlop (PFD). Bonnier Zaffre published the book as a lead title on today (Thursday 13th June).

Eleventh Hour Film is currently in production with an adaptation of the Alex Rider books for Sony Pictures Television and previous credits include "Safe House" (ITV), "New Blood" (BBC One), "Foyle's War" (ITV) and "Collision" (ITV). Sony Pictures Television acquired a minority stake in the company in 2018.

This Green and Pleasant Land is Malik's third novel, about a Muslim family cosily embedded in the heart of middle-class white England. “It is a witty meditation on race politics, what it means to be British, and the complexities of personal identity,” the synopsis reads. “At the heart of this book lies the simple question: who decides to who and what we belong? Malik is a British Muslim born and raised in South London, her other novels include Sofia Khan is Not Obliged (Twenty7) and The Other Half of Happiness (Bonnier Zaffre).

Malik said: “I’m delighted with Eleventh Hour Films optioning This Green and Pleasant Land. Their insight and vision for the adaptation shows their understanding of what the book is trying to achieve - I believe they’re going to do something amazing when it comes to adapting it for television to be shared with a wider audience.”