PBS Distribution has officially announced the Blu-ray release of creator Guy Burt's
The Bletchley Circle, a three-part period murder mystery starring Rachael Stirling, Sophie Rundle, Julie Graham and two-time BAFTA award-winner Anna Maxwell Martin. The vivid portrait of post-war Britain streets on May 14th.
The program follows four ordinary women with the extraordinary ability to break codes, a skill honed during World War II when they worked undercover at Bletchley Park, site of the United Kingdom's main decryption establishment. Now, in 1952, the four have returned to civilian life, keeping their intelligence work secret from all, including family and friends. A series of ghastly murders targeting women, however, reunites the team as they set out to decode the pattern behind the crimes. Martin (
South Riding,
Bleak House) stars as Susan, now a housewife with two children, who has collected data on a series of murders and tried, unsuccessfully, to convince the police that another is imminent. Stirling (
Women in Love,
Boy Meets Girl) is Millie, the feistiest of the bunch, conversant in fourteen languages, worldly and street smart. RADA graduate Rundle plays Lucy, a young woman equipped with a photographic memory. And Julie Graham (
Lapland,
Doc Martin), oldest of the four, is the former head of the Bletchley Park unit.
The Bletchley Circle is "a taut and original code-breaking mystery that is equal parts thriller and whodunit," says Beth Hoppe, Chief Programming Executive and General Manager, General Audience Programming, PBS. "We think American audiences are going to love the story and the characters. The production is exceptionally vivid, capturing London of the 1950s fully. In addition, the journey home for these women, from war intelligence to 1950s domesticity, is highly complicated, further emphasizing the importance of their bond and friendship."
The three-part series premieres on PBS on Sunday, April 21st at 10:00pm EST. The series aired in the UK in September 2012 on ITV to critical acclaim. Distributed worldwide by Content Television and produced by Jake Lushington (
The Devil's Whore,
Mysterious Creatures),
The Bletchley Circle was created and written by Guy Burt (
Kingdom,
The Borgias). Simon Heath (
Hancock and Joan,
Party Animals) is the executive producer. Andy De Emmony (
Cutting It,
Kenneth Williams: Fantabulosa!) directed the series.
Tech specs and special features have yet to be detailed.