Good news, “Happy Valley” fans: your next UK crime TV obsession has been announced. Deadline confirms Alibi — a UK broadcaster run by Discovery and UKTV — has commissioned a women-driven forensic murder mystery as its first original scripted drama. Actress-writer Amelia Bullmore (“Scott & Bailey”) is set to write “Traces.”
Based on an idea from crime writer Val McDermid, “Traces” focuses on three women working together at the Scottish Institute of Forensic Science (SIFA). Lab assistant Emma Hedges, Professor Sarah Gordon, and Professor Kathy Torrance use their forensic knowledge to solve a cold murder case. As Deadline summarizes, “When 23-year-old Emma Hedges returns to Scotland to take up a new position as a lab assistant at SIFA, she signs up to an online course that teaches the principles of forensic science. But she soon discovers that the fictitious case study has a strikingly similar and shocking link to her past.” The source continues, “As Emma’s sleuthing takes her into darker corners and unlocks more and more secrets, it becomes clear that she should trust no one. It will be Sarah and Kathy’s exacting minds that reward Emma’s faith in the science that has fueled her imagination and ultimately bring a killer to justice.”
“Traces” is produced by Red Production Company (“Happy Valley”). Red’s Nicola Shindler and UKTV drama commissioner Philippa Collie Cousins are among the executive producers. BBC Studios will handle global sales.
“When the idea came over from Red, it genuinely made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up,” Cousins recalled. “The fantastic writing talent in Amelia Bullmore coupled with Nicola Shindler and the team at Red will make Alibi’s first-ever drama commission something really quite special,” she said. “With strong female characters this is ‘Happy Valley’ meets ‘Silent Witness,’ a dark and exciting show that I can’t wait for us to get cracking on.”
Bullmore has appeared in projects such as “Happy Valley,” “Deep State,” “The Crown,” and “Shameless.” “Scott & Bailey,” “This Life,” and “Attachments” are among her writing credits. She won a Writers’ Guild of Great Britain award for her work on “This Life” and scored a nomination for “Scott & Bailey.”
