Best-selling novels from creative writing lecturer commissioned for BBC Children’s series

Best-selling novelist and creative writing lecturer Alex Wheatle.

Renowned novelist and creative writing lecturer Alex Wheatle’s best-selling novels have been commissioned by the BBC which is now scouting acting talent for a comedy-drama children’s series.

Wheatle’s Crongton novels chronicle a group of young people living in a thriving multicultural community in a fictional urban housing estate. Their lives and journeys were inspired by Wheatle’s own previous experiences as a youth worker and will be brought to life on screen in a 10-part returning iPlayer series.

Combining irreverent humour and featuring animated fantasy sequences, the series will be aimed at an audience aged 10-12. Its screenplay is written by award-winning writer and comedian Archie Maddocks, who Wheatle worked alongside as creative consultant.

Speaking about the commission, Wheatle said: “I’m thrilled and proud that the BBC has taken on my books, and I’m excited about the opportunities the series will create for fresh talent and young actors of colour.

“The novels weave in material from my time working with young people in a South London housing estate, as well as mixing in experiences from my own teenage years. I can’t wait to watch the story on screen.”

Wheatle’s own extraordinary life journey from care to prison to successful novelist, was powerfully retold in the 2020 BBC series Small Axe, written and directed by Academy Award-winner Steve McQueen.

Crongton screenwriter Archie Maddocks added: “Reading Alex Wheatle’s books, I was struck by how much the characters and their world reflect my own upbringing. They were just like me and my friends; I could have known them all. Crongton is a project that has been close to my heart for a very long time and, like many, many fans of the novels, I can’t wait to finally see the transformation of Alex’s amazing world from the page to the screen.”

Wheatle joined Manchester Met’s Manchester Writing School as a Lecturer in Creative Writing in 2018, teaching writing for children and young adults. Established in 1998, Manchester Writing School is one of the world’s largest and most successful writing schools, with staff including former poet laureate Professor Carol-Ann Duffy and Forward Prize-winning poets including Malika Booker.