Peaky Blinders team signed up for TV adaptation of Ishiguro novel

A novel by Kazuo Ishiguro is to be turned into a TV show by the production company behind Peaky Blinders. When We Were Orphans tells the story of Christopher Banks, a celebrated detective in 1930s London, whose encounters with friends past and present lead him to unravel a mystery surrounding the disappearance of his parents during his childhood in Shanghai.

Japanese-born Ishiguro, who won the Nobel Prize last year for his pursuits in literature, will executive produce, along with Caryn Mandabach and Jamie Glazebrook for Caryn Mandabach Productions.

Mandabach and Glazebrook are executive producers on gangster hit Peaky Blinders, which was BBC Two’s biggest drama series of 2017.

Ishiguro, whose most acclaimed works include Never Let Me Go and The Remains Of The Day, said: “TV has now become such an exciting way to tell stories – so much is possible – and I can’t tell you how thrilled I am about the company that gave us Peaky Blinders developing my London/shanghai ‘detective novel’ When We Were Orphans.”

Glazebrook said: “Each one of Kazuo Ishiguro’s masterpieces contains a world so vivid that one feels one has lived inside it.

“When We Were Orphans is no exception – a psychological thriller like no other that extends across continents into the heart of a war.

“It’s a very personal adventure that resonates today, and we could not be more excited to bring this extraordinary story to the screen.”