Universal International Studios has jumped back into the UK books market for another TV development.
In another “highly competitive situation,” the Universal Studio Group subsidiary has acquired rights to develop British author Christie Watson‘s novel Moral Injuries as a television series.
Parent USG was instrumental in securing the rights, just as it was when UIS swooped to buy adaptation rights to Lucy Foley’s upcoming book The Midnight Feast, as we reported on Friday.
Set in the UK, the series will be produced by UIS, with execs from ITV Studios-owned Monumental Television attached as executive producer. Alison Owen, Debra Hayward and Katie Kelly will serve as executive producers for Monumental, working in partnership with the Global Scripted Series team at UIS.
Psychological thriller Moral Injuries was released in the UK on March 14. Logline for the books bills it as a “glossy thriller that follows three best friends since medical school and the twenty-five-year-old secret that now threatens to shatter their lives.
“Olivia, Laura and Anjali promised they’d always protect one another and never speak about that one night where they made a deadly decision, which still haunts them. But when their teenage children face a similar situation, the women’s bond is put to the absolute test. Just how much can a friendship really survive? Set in the tumultuous world of the NHS, Moral Injuries is an ongoing medical drama series that tests the bounds of morality and a longstanding friendship.”
Watson is a Professor of Medical Humanities at University East Anglia but was an NHS nurse for 25 years. She has written five previous books, including debut Tiny Sunbirds Far Away, and a memoir, The Language of Kindness, which was a number one Sunday Times bestseller. She is a contributor to the Times, Sunday Times, Guardian, Telegraph and TEDx, and her work has been translated into 23 languages and adapted for theatre.
Watson is represented by Camilla Young at Curtis Brown on behalf of Sophie Lambert at C&W.
Moral Injuries is published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson (Orion) in the UK and HarperCollins in the US.