Wolf Hall prodco taking The Widow to TV

Playground picked up rights to several book properties that it will seek to adapt for TV, including Fiona Barton’s psychological thriller The Widow.

The prodco, which made hit BBC period drama Wolf Hall, has also snapped up rights to non-fiction book Jeremy Hutchinson’s Case Histories, a real-life account of a barrister’s life.

Louise Pedersen, managing director of Playground UK, said: “We bought both of these books at manuscript stage and it is great to see them find such a wide readership. We are confident that both titles will make compelling television adaptations.”

Sophie Gardiner, creative director of Playground UK, added: “Though one book is fiction and the other is non-fiction, both books feature striking central characters caught up in stories that speak to the key issues of our time and should appeal to a wide-ranging audience.”

The two deals follow Playground recently optioning upcoming book The New Odyssey – The Story of Europe’s Refugee Crisis, by Patrick Kingsley.