BBC Greenlights Three New Dramas, Including Tudor-Set ‘1536,’ ‘Shy & Lola’ With Hayley Squires, Bel Powley

Hollywood Reporter

by Lily Ford

February 23, 2026

AI-Generated Deep Dive Summary

The BBC has announced three new drama series set to air across its platforms, including *Shy & Lola*, a darkly comic thriller, the political suspense drama *D-Notice*, and the Tudor-era period piece *1536*. These projects highlight the broadcaster’s commitment to diverse storytelling and fresh voices in British television. The first of these is *Shy & Lola*, a six-part series for BBC iPlayer and BBC One, written by award-winning screenwriter Amanda Coe (*Apple Tree Yard, The Trial of Christine Keeler*) and produced by BAFTA and Emmy-winning Clerkenwell Films. The show follows Shy, a struggling cleaner played by Hayley Squires (*The Night Manager*), and Lola, an ex-model-turned-grifter portrayed by Bel Powley (*A Small Light*). The duo becomes entangled in the criminal underworld of Shy’s small coastal town after a murder forces them to team up. Inspired by the French TV drama *Cheyenne and Lola*, filming is set to begin this spring in Hull and Leeds. Next is *D-Notice*, a six-part political thriller co-created by Adam Patterson and Declan Lawn (*The Salisbury Poisonings, Blue Lights*). The series delves into the world of investigative journalism, exploring how power and truth intersect, particularly through the lens of D-Notices—a mechanism

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Originally published on Hollywood Reporter on 2/23/2026