Happy Valley's Sarah Lancashire to star in "ambitious" new drama

"When we set up Lighthouse in 2020, we talked to Sarah about developing something specifically for her," Neville said.

"In the interim, she has set up Via, and towards [the] end of last year we had an idea for an ambitious, contemporary returning series that may be perfect for Sarah."

Lighthouse are said to be teaming up with Lancashire's production company, Via Pictures, on the project.

When approached by RadioTimes.com for comment, a spokesperson said there were "no further details at present" in regards to the series.

Lighthouse are one of the minds behind Netflix's forthcoming movie, Scoop, based on the 2019 Newsnight interview with Prince Andrew, which is set to provide an "insider account of the inner workings of the Palace and the BBC".

Starring Rufus Sewell as Prince Andrew, Gillian Anderson as Emily Maitlis and Billie Piper as guest booker Sam McAlister - who wrote the book the film is based on - Scoop will take audiences behind the scenes of the interviews and their repercussions.

Lighthouse co-founder Hilary Salmon told Deadline when they began looking for "the project that became Scoop", they wanted to "do an actual drama but seek cultural and critical moments of the last two decades".

"It felt like journalism was a really good area for this, and campaigning around social change and changes in attitudes is ripe for exploration," she added.

Viewers last saw Lancashire as the formidable Sergeant Catherine Cawood in Sally Wainwright's Happy Valley.

The actress recently won the Special Recognition Award at the National Television Awards, and exclusively told RadioTimes.com it was "hard to say goodbye" to the character.

"It was hard to say goodbye, but in truth it's a brutal role to play, and you have to know when enough is enough, really," she explained.

"Even just for the sake of your health, you can't keep repeatedly playing that role - and Sally knows that, and we knew how much mileage there was in her, and probably how much mileage there was in me as well."

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