The North Water optioned for television

Recently-published Scribner title The North Water is set to be turned into big budget television thriller by See-Saw films.

TV rights to Ian McGuire’s historical novel, published just last week (11th February) by Simon & Schuster UK’s Scribner imprint, were acquired from Toby Moorcroft Rights on behalf of Judith Murray at Greene & Heaton.

The North Water is a gripping historical thriller set on a 19th-century whaling ship that sails for the Arctic with a killer aboard. It has already attracted praise from Hilary Mantel and Martin Amis as well as national and international review coverage.

The deal marks See-Saw’s latest TV project as it grows its burgeoning TV division, following Jane Campion’s 'Top of the Lake' and Jimmy McGovern’s 'Banished', which both aired on BBC2 in the UK and on channels around the world. The company is also producing the forthcoming BBC1 comedy drama nased on the book 'Love, Nina' and produced 'The King's Speech' film.

A spokesperson for See-Saw Films, said: "As soon as we read The North Water we were blown away. Ian’s masterful novel is an extraordinary story: filled with action, adventure, blood and gore. The narrative is taut and suspenseful, but with a grace and beauty that elevates it to a true masterwork. It will make for thrilling television.”

Rowan Cope, editorial director at Simon & Schuster, said: “Ian McGuire has written an extraordinary tour de force of historical storytelling, creating a world that is vivid, visceral and majestically rendered, and we cannot wait to see that vision translated to the screen in this exciting new TV series that is in development.”