BBC Announces Crime Drama Updates

In addition to the news that the BBC is developing a mini-series adaptation of Wilkie Collins's The Moonstone, the British television network made a number of other crime drama-related announcements.

• Death in Paradise, featuring a London detective who is sent to a fictional Caribbean island to solve the murder of a colleague and ends up joining the police force there, has been renewed for a second season.

• Matthew Macfadyen has been cast in the lead role of a new historical crime series, Ripper Street. Set in 1889, the action is centered on the police precinct H Division, which is responsible for maintaining order in the area following the "Ripper" murders.

• Denis Lawson will join New Tricks for its ninth season following the departure of James Bolam.

• Sean Bean, Anna Maxwell Martin and Stephen Graham have been cast in Accused, which follows a different character in each episode as they await their verdict in court, and tells the story behind how they find themselves accused. The series won an International Emmy in 2001.