BBC Scotland is to create two new dramas for BBC One, both made by Scottish production companies, with both dramas centring around crimes involving children.
The corporation announced that The Cry and The Victim have been commissioned for the main network channel at the Edinburgh TV Festival and are to be shot in Scotland next year.
The Cry is an adaptation of a novel by Helen FitzGerald and is the first television commission for Glasgow-based Synchronicity Films.
The four part drama is a psychological drama set in Scotland and Australia and centres around the abduction of a baby from a small coastal town in Australia.
The drama will address the "disintegrating psychology of a young woman – Joanna - as she and her husband, Alistair, deal with an unthinkable tragedy under both the white light of public scrutiny and in their private lives."
It will be shot in Scotland and Australia next year, and no cast has yet been announced.
Claire Mundell, creative director of Synchronicity Films, said: “We couldn’t be more thrilled to be working with the BBC and the outstanding talent of our writer Jacquelin Perske, to bring Helen FitzGerald’s compelling novel The Cry to the small screen in what will be an emotional rollercoaster of a story.”
The Victim will also be shot in Scotland next year and will be made by STV Productions.
Written by Rob Williams, it is a legal thriller told through the eyes of the plaintiff and the accused.
It is set in Edinburgh and the Scottish legal system, and features the story of Carl, a man living in Dundee, who is identified online as a notorious child murderer living under a new identity.
Sarah Brown, Executive Producer for STV Productions, says: “We are delighted to have the chance to bring Rob's brilliant, thought provoking story to the screen for BBC One.
"It's particularly exciting to be making a drama set and shot in Scotland, and to be able to tell a story which is both totally rooted in its setting, and yet utterly universal in its concerns."
The Victim is a four part drama and will start shooting early next year.
Donalda MacKinnon, director of BBC Scotland said: "We've been very public about trying to boost our drama output as part of our strategy of providing programmes that are more relevant for audiences in Scotland - but which can also be enjoyed as compelling stories no matter where you live.
"Trust Me and The Replacement have proved very popular in that respect and I'm sure these two new dramas by Scottish companies will prove equally so in addition to the next Shetland series and of course River City."
Elizabeth Kilgarriff, BBC Senior Commissioning Editor for England and Scotland, said: "It is exciting to be able to showcase our ambition for BBC Scotland Drama with these two very different but equally brilliant shows.
"Original, distinctive and gripping, both The Victim and The Cry are beautifully written pieces with huge emotional heart and universal appeal."
Other recent BBC productions shot and made in Scotland include Trust Me, Shetland, Still Game, River City and Two Doors Down, among others.
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