Hard Sun, scifi-crime drama from the BBC.
A new six episode one hour scifi-crime drama series by Luther creator Neil Cross (produced by Euston Films), has been just commissioned for BBC One.
Hard Sun is described as a pre-apocalyptic crime drama set in contemporary London, has been commissioned by Charlotte Moore, Controller of BBC One, and Polly Hill, Controller of BBC Drama Commissioning.
Detectives Elaine Renko and Robert Hicks, partners and enemies, seek to enforce the law and protect their loved ones in a world that every day slips closer to certain destruction from a once-in-a-millennium nova-scale solar flare that will leave the Earth looking like a radioactive sludge ball.

Neil Cross told SFcrowsnest, โImagine the world you see when you look out your windowโฆ except it’s been given a death sentence. This isnโt science fiction. This is the real world. There’s no hero to come save us; no contingency plan. Weโve got five years. This is the world of Hard Sunโฆ and the world of Elaine Renko and Robert Hicks. Whatโs it like, trying to keep order, trying to enforce the law in a city that, day by day, slips closer to certain destruction? How do you get up in the morning? How do you get out of bed and leave your family and go out there, putting your own life at risk?
And what about the predators? What about the murderers, the rapists, the thieves? What about the psychopaths, the religious nuts, the cult leaders, the serial killers? Who among them would fear a prison sentence, in a world like this? Who among them would fear legal consequences? What does a life sentence even mean, any more? Whatโs the point of justice in the face of Armageddon? Iโve had Renko and Hicks and their world rattling round my head for a while now. Iโm incredibly happy that, like me, they’ve found their home at the BBC. I can’t wait for you to meet them.โ
Polly Hill, hard-charging controller of BBC Drama Commissioning, added, โI am thrilled that BBC One is the home for Neil Cross’s new original drama, Hard Sun. Neil has written a crime series that is bold, ambitious, relevant and dark but it’s also very moving and told through complex extraordinary characters. It’s brilliantly written and very exciting. I am also pleased that this is Euston Film’s first commission and this really does promise to be an original and compelling drama for 2017.โ
