After what it says was fierce competition, production company Hillbilly Television has acquired the TV drama rights to The Rapture, journalist and author Claire McGlasson's debut novel about a real-life cult, set in 1920s Bedford.
The novel will be published in June 2019 by Faber and Faber and is a story of madness and friendship, repressed emotions and acts of true devotion. Set in 1926 in the UK market town of Bedford, a woman calling herself Octavia and claiming to be the Daughter of God is gathering followers, who take up houses enclosing a garden in Bedford that they believe to be the original site of Eden. But one young member of the new cult, in which members are required to spy on each other and report even the smallest transgression, isn't there by choice. Surrounded by people yet utterly alone, Dilys starts to untangle the truth from the lies.
Hillbilly was co-founded by Polly Leys and Kate Norrish, whose collective credits include The Full Monty and Second Coming, starring Idris Elba. Over the past 18 months, Hillbilly has produced TV drama series for both UK and international broadcasters such as The Level (6 x 60 mins) for ITV, Random for Channel 4, which has won BAFTA awards Best Single Drama, and new comedy drama Loaded (8 x 45 mins), co-produced by Keshet UK for Channel 4 and AMC, which was recently acquired by Netflix.
Commenting on the new production, Norrish said: "We fell in love with Claire's wonderful novel the minute we read it. At Hillbilly, we seek out projects that offer up something different - a fresh perspective, characters we've not seen before, stories that offer a sideways glance at the world. The Rapture offers all of this and more."
McGlasson added: "Hillbilly feels like the perfect fit for a story about femininity and power. Kate and Polly have an incredible vision for my novel and are passionate about championing women in their industry. I couldn't be more delighted to be working with them."
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