Eagle Eye Drama takes on Barbara Cartland biography for television
Eagle Eye Drama has acquired the rights to adapt Matthew Sweet's biography The Great Dictator for television, Deadline reported on 21 September. The deal covers a screen version of Sweet's book about Dame Barbara Cartland. Eagle Eye, an organisation owned by ITV Studios, will develop the project.
Cartland, born in 1901, was known as 'The Queen of Romance'. Her romance novels sold close to a billion copies in 38 languages. That reach is rare. She was also the step-grandmother of Princess Diana.
Sweet's book was published by Hodder & Stoughton. It was longlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize, the British award for non-fiction books. Sweet already works with Eagle Eye as co-writer of Bookish, which is produced through the company.
This is not the first time Cartland has been portrayed on screen. Anne Reid played her in In Love with Barbara, a one-off television film, meaning a single drama rather than a returning series, shown by the BBC in 2008.
What makes this stand out for viewers is the overlap. A writer famous for love stories. A family tie to royalty. And a biographer who already writes drama for the same producer. Casting, broadcaster and transmission dates have still to be announced.
