CBS has tapped an Emmy-winning writer to adapt a miniseries for the network. Writing on Deadline.com, Lisa de Moraes writes that “The Chronicles of Narnia” writer Ann Peacock will adapt “The Dovekeepers” for the Mark Burnett and Roma Downey-produced project.
“The Dovekeepers” will be a four-hour miniseries based on Alice Hoffman’s historical novel about the Siege of Masada, the fortress near the Dead Sea where the Romans battled a group of Jewish resisters.
“We felt [the book] was best served if the screenplay came through the heart of a strong woman and Peacock is such a woman,” Downey told Deadline. “I met her right before Christmas; she came to our house in Malibu and I sat down with her and she clearly loved the book. Her book had Post-Its sticking out from a hundred different pages where she’d lovingly made notes.”
The project marks a return to TV for Peacock, who won an Emmy for HBO’s “A Lesson Before Dying,” based on a novel by Ernest Gaines, de Moraes writes. She has recently been working on the Starz/BBC America period series “Harem” and “Hunting Eichman” for Mandalay.
The piece adds: “CBS has high hopes for ‘The Dovekeepers.’ Burnett and Downey’s 10-hour miniseries ‘The Bible’ scored big ratings for History back in March of ’13, becoming the … top cable entertainment telecast of the year when it premiered, and helping make History the No. 1-ranked cable network for that month.”
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