The Controller of BBC One, Danny Cohen, has announced new shows for 2013. Apart from the much awaited 50th anniversary Doctor Who, of interest is the six one-hour adaption of Jonathan Strange And Mr Norrell the bestselling novel by Susanna Clarke. Adapted by Peter Harness this is set during the Napoleonic Wars in an England where magic once existed and is about to return.

Winning the 2005 Hugo for best novel, this book was written over a period of ten years in fragments and stitched together at the end. Susanna was quoted in the Observer as saying she read Tolkien and CS Lewis as a child and the Narnia Chronicles were her favourite. Following the Hugo the novel went on to win many other awards.

The TV show will be directed by Toby Haynes who was worked on numerous BBC programmes including Sherlock (The Reichenbach Fall) and Doctor Who (Pandorica Opens / Big Bang, A Christmas Carol and The Impossible Astronaut / Day of the Moon).

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