The BBC is making a two-part drama based on the creation of the Grand Theft Auto franchise, to highlight British technology successes.
The show isn’t about the plotlines from the game itself but instead will focus on the making of the series, presumably starting with Scottish company DMA Design – which later became Rockstar North.
It’s likely to be similar in style to one-off drama Micro Men, which explored the early days of the BBC Micro and ZX Spectrum. The two-part show is due to be aired this September on BBC 2, as part of the Beeb’s ‘Make it Digital’ initiative.
Make it Digital’s primary goal is to encourage youngsters to get into coding, with shows such as Doctor Who and EastEnders also being involved.
Which seems a bit odd considering GTA has always been 18-rated and is absolutely not for kids.
Still, it is one of the biggest successes the British games industry has ever seen and it’s nice to see it finally get some sort of recognition as such.
For anyone hoping that it would’ve been an actual crime drama, Rockstar has previously admitted that they’re constantly being approached by movie companies but have no interest in a film adaptation.
Rockstar themselves do make their own short films and documentaries so who knows if that will change in the future, but for now this might be the closest you ever get to a GTA drama.