The BBC has commissioned two new drama series for BBC iPlayer and Daytime from the West Midlands.

The Hairdresser Mysteries (6×45) is written by Jim Cartwright and produced by Mill Bay Mediaa 53 Degrees Global company, in association with Night Train Media. The Detection Club (10×45) is from lead writer Kit Lambert, produced by BBC Studios Drama Productions.

These commissions demonstrate the BBC’s commitment to re-investing all of the Doctors spend into new scripted programming in the West Midlands. Both dramas will provide new opportunities to support skills and boost talent in the region to grow authentic voices and stories.

The BBC is actively working with partners in the Midlands, including the West Midlands Combined Authority and Create Central to grow its investment in the region over the coming years and increase its economic impact further as part of the BBC’s Across the UK strategy.

BBC Studios Drama Productions, who produce titles including Father Brown, Silent Witness and Shakespeare and Hathaway have also recently opened Portland House, a regional hub and post-production facility in Digbeth where the Detection Club will be produced. This work includes comprehensive training initiatives led by BBC Studios Drama Productions, which recently won Workplace Learning Champion at the West Midlands Adult Learning Awards. Training opportunities have included 54 placements on West Midlands based productions, as well as a Short Films Project in partnership with BBC Drama Commissioning and the West Midlands Combined Authorities Careers Hub.

The Hairdresser Mysteries is an original, homegrown drama created by Jim Cartwright (Coronation Street 2016, The Afternoon Play 2003, Little Voice 1998), and is a nostalgic nod to the 70s which sees a high-end hairdresser, Lily Petal, opt out of the competitive city scene to buy a small village hairdressers at the top of a cobbled street. Everyone tells their hairdresser everything and soon she is at the hub of her new village’s secrets and revelations, and with her own brand of uncannily highly developed, hairdressing intuitive empathy and understanding, solves the village mysteries.

Filming for The Hairdresser Mysteries will begin this September across the West Midlands and will see Sally Phillips take the lead-role of Lily Petal. Will Trotter (Father Brown, Sister Boniface Mysteries) and Oliver Kent (Sanditon, The Burning Girls,) act as executive producers for Mill Bay Media, with Herbert L. Kloiber (The Bombing of Pan Am 103, Fallen) and James Copp (Catch Me A Killer, This Time Next Year) for Night Train Media. Jim Cartwright, Mark Catley and David Semple serve as writers on the series with Paul Gibson, Jermain Julien and Tracey Larcombe directing. Grainne O’Boyle (Doctors) will produce. Eccho Rights are distributing internationally.

The Detection Club, set in 1930s London, the golden age of detective fiction, sees the mysterious society of the three most famous crime writers of our time Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers and G.K. Chesterton, join forces to solve real-life murders. Honing their craft within the hallowed walls of a secret London location, the three writers come together after receiving an invitation that leads them to their first real murder case. The series follows the trio as they work together to crack cases, all to the despair of D.I. Greenway a young, rookie, real-life detective. The Detection Club, which will be filmed in 2026, is backed by BBC Studios, who are handling global sales.

Helen Munson, Commissioning Editor for BBC Daytime comments, “The BBC made a commitment to reinvest in new programming from the West Midlands, and these two new dramas are a result of this. The West Midlands has so much home-grown talent in the drama sector both on and off screen, commissioning the Detection Club and The Hairdresser Mysteries will offer more jobs to the region and showcase what the area has to offer. I’m excited to be working on these mysterious crime dramas which will be enjoyed by all ages of audiences at any time of the day.”

BBC primetime programming such as Silent Witness and MasterChef have gone into pre-production from new bases in Digbeth. BBC Radio 1Xtra has relocated shows and BBC Asian Network has begun consolidating the network entirely in the city since April 2025.

The BBC’s increased investment in the region has already helped grow the West Midlands creative cluster – Birmingham is now the second largest UK hub for Banijay Group with Shine and Kudos Knight setting up regional bases after receiving BBC commissions, and with other suppliers like Spun Gold and Full Fat TV also located in Digbeth. Spun Gold have produced Policing Paradise and are now making Garden Rescue for the BBC – all from their base in Digbeth.

HD3 / CK(BBC Studios) /SJP (The Hairdresser Mysteries)

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