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Homeland writer announces new show The Tower - and it sounds intense

Have you read Kate London's popular novel series?  

Emmy Griffiths
TV & Film Editor
March 11, 2021
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Homeland screenwriter Patrick Harbinson has revealed a new ITV drama, and if it’s anything like his hit series starring Damian Lewis and Claire Danes, we’re all in!

MORE: 7 shows to watch if you like Homeland

The upcoming series, The Tower, is based on Kate London’s Metropolitan series of novels and follows Sergeant Sarah Collins and rookie Lizzie Griffiths working in the police department. The network has given us an insight into the show, with a synopsis reading: “In The Tower’s breath-taking opening sequence, a veteran beat cop and a teenage girl fall to their deaths from a tower block in south-east London. 

WATCH: Check out ITV's crime drama The Bay in the meantime! 

“Left alive on the roof are a five-year-old boy and rookie police officer Lizzie Griffiths. Within hours, Lizzie has disappeared, and Detective Sergeant Sarah Collins is charged with leading the investigation. She not only has to track down Lizzie before she comes to serious harm, but also to uncover the truth behind the grisly deaths. What chain of events took two police officers and two children to the roof of that tower block - why did two of them die? Why did two of them survive?” 

homeland ending

Patrick wrote the hit series Homeland

Speaking about the series, Kate, who herself is a former Met police officer, said: “In 2006 I ran away from the circus to join the police. Within a matter of weeks I was writing - not for publication, but because I just had to get down on paper the world I encountered: its complexity, laughter, loyalty, the moral conflicts and the dangers that were not only physical.” 

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“Policing showed me London in a way no other job could. The product of this experience was my first novel, Post Mortem.  After a fierce bidding war, I chose Patrick Harbinson to bring the book to screen. I was persuaded not only by his outstanding track record, but by his passionate engagement with the characters and the choices they face.” 

Patrick added: “After six years on Homeland, I wanted to get back to my roots and   write something firmly based in the UK. As soon as I read Kate London’s beautifully written novels I knew they were it. They are authentic, funny, crammed with original characters, and they tell intense and challenging stories. I know that audiences will fall in love with Kate’s two wonderful protagonists Sarah and Lizzie, just as I have."

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