Dawn French To Lead New ITV Drama

Filming is set to begin this Spring in South Devon on new ITV drama 'Glass Houses', starring Dawn French.

Glass Houses, created and written by Mark Brotherhood, is set in a small coastal town and follows the stories and fall out for Maggie Connors (Dawn French) who doesn't pay attention to the cautionary adage that 'those in glass houses shouldn't throw stones'. Maggie is a central character in town who makes it her business to know a bit about everyone's lives. When a radio journalist interviews her for a small reportage piece about local life she gives him far more detail (and embellishment) about the locals and their personal lives than he was counting on. In the days and weeks following the show's broadcast, Maggie sees the butterfly effect of how her very public gossip-fest affects various figures around the town and disrupts their lives.

Produced by Genial Productions, the six-part show will also feature Mark Heap, Julie Hesmondhalgh, Vicki Pepperdine and Patrick Robinson.

Sophie Clarke-Jervoise from Genial Productions along with Dawn French and Mark Brotherhood will serve as executive producers with Joanna Hanley as producer, Ben Gregor as director and Maya Sondhi as script consultant.

Dawn French said: "Sophie and I have been developing Glass Houses for some time and I can't wait to finally get started in front of the camera. It's such a good story with a fantastic funny, touching script by Mark Brotherhood. Let me at it!"

Sophie Clarke-Jervoise, Genial Production's Managing Director and Executive Producer, added: "We're delighted to be making Glass Houses for ITV – it's a cautionary tale for anyone wanting to gain popularity by passing on unfounded gossip and Mark Brotherhood's scripts are packed full of intrigue, comedy and suspense."

Glass Houses will be distributed internationally by ITV Studios Global Entertainment.