A24, BBC Developing TV Adaptation of Douglas Stuart’s Booker Prize-Winning ‘Shuggie Bain’

A24 and the BBC are teaming up on Shuggie Bain, Douglas Stuart’s TV adaptation of his 2020 Booker Prize-winning novel.

Set during the 1980s in Thatcher-era Glasgow and based on Stuart’s childhood, Shuggie Bain is billed as a “powerful portrayal of a working-class family,” delving into a story of alcoholism, sexuality, pride and love as an effeminate boy struggling to fit in looks to care for his beloved mother as she battles with alcoholism.

“I am deeply grateful to the BBC and A24 for their belief in Shuggie Bain,” said Stuart. “I’m thrilled to bring the Bain family to the screen and the opportunity to expand on my novel and to bring new threads to the story, exploring hardships and struggles as well as the compassion, humour and resilience that is so central to the Scottish spirit.”

The series marks the latest U.K. project for A24 after it made two major London hires last year, poaching both the BBC’s head of film and head of drama, as it sought to beef up its international operations.

Shuggie Bain is written by Stuart and will be executive produced by A24 and Gaynor Holmes, the BBC’s drama commissioning editor. The series is being produced and distributed internationally by A24. Filming will take place in Scotland and further details will be announced in due course.

“Shuggie Bain is an extraordinary novel, with all the makings of extraordinary television,” said Holmes. “It’s a real honor to be working with the immensely talented Douglas Stuart to bring his vision to the BBC.”