Channel 4 announces Army of Shadows series written by Ronan Bennett

Channel 4 have announced a new six-part drama series Army of Shadows written by Belfast's Ronan Bennett.

The BAFTA award-winner has also worked on projects including The Day of the Jackal, MobLand and Top Boy. 

The show was inspired by Jean Pierre Melville’s 1969 film and Joseph Kessel’s book of the same name. Both dramatised the rise of the French Resistance to the Nazi occupation of France during World War 2.

The upcoming series will tell a new story, covering the inception of the British Resistance.

"Under de facto American occupation, a former British army officer builds a covert resistance cell from scratch - navigating betrayal, moral compromise and the tension between patience and action - as young recruits fight to reclaim their country and their futures," reads the synopsis.

"From first kills and internal betrayals to propaganda campaigns, internment camps, and a climactic political assassination - this is a story about how freedom is taken and how it can be won back."

Bennett said that democracy is yet again in danger.

"Resistance to fascism is - and must always be - a permanent struggle. This is a story about commitment, resistance and defiance in the coming age.”

Details about casting are set be be announced shortly.