Leeds based production company Hell Fire! is developing a high-end TV drama series based on the bestselling DI Charley Mann novels by R.C. Bridgestock. The working title is Mann.

Hell Fire! is also developing multiple new TV drama and documentary concepts based on Bob’s prolific career as a Detective with Walking the Line, R.C. Bridgestock’s TV consultancy company and Production Consultant Sarah Jarvis.

The DI Charley Mann novels were created by Former Senior Investigating Officer Bob Bridgestock and his wife Carol, a Senior Clerical Officer, who together have a combined 47 years of policing experience with West Yorkshire Police. Bob Bridgestock is one of the most commended officers in West Yorkshire Police and took charge of the Birkby fires, the force’s largest major murder enquiry to date. He and Carol have consulted on many crime and policing TV series including the original series of BAFTA-winning Happy Valley, and BritBox original The Beast Must Die with Gaby Chiappe. 

The true crime novels have been much sought-after for TV rights, and the Hell Fire! series will follow the unconventional female detective protagonist Charley Mann. Mann is an edgy and distinctive lead character who pushes the boundaries of the genre with traits typically associated with hardboiled male characters. Dealing with straight facts and hard evidence, she was raised in a rural farmland area of Yorkshire that is full of superstition and strange folklore, some of which she still holds onto. She has a complicated relationship with men, having endured an emotionally abusive romantic relationship and a difficult history with her father. 

The series tells of how DI Mann spent much of her career climbing the ranks and fighting to earn the Detective title. Complex and seemingly stoic, she can de-compartmentalise with ease, which gives her a unique focus. But in her personal life she regularly changes her appearance, uses men for sex and hangs out in the seedy side of town which she usually polices. 

Hell Fire! and Walking the Line are also currently developing a true-crime docu-drama series fronted by Bob Bridgestock, examining some of his most gripping and high-profile criminal cases, using never seen before evidence and archival Police footage mixed with interviews and high-end cinematic reconstruction. The working title is Murder Box.

Andy Dorée, co-founder of Hell Fire!, said, “The production relationship we now have with Bob, Carol and their company, Walking the Line, is built on the close and longstanding connection we have developed with them. Charley Mann is a character with deep Northern and working-class roots – she’s not afraid to disrupt and go against the grain, and neither are we. We wanted to be the people to bring her to life and we’re really proud Bob and Carol agreed. We can’t wait to develop her and her story.”

Nate Camponi, co-founder of Hell Fire!, added, “What we want to avoid is a straight-up ‘damaged female copper’ trope. She’s actually a lot more layered than that, maybe even a bit Christian Grey. She’s determined, dominant and promiscuous. She also shares many of the traits of Clarice Starling from Silence of the Lambs in terms of drive and fearlessness. She rides this line between super cop and someone on the edge. And her thought process is often aligned to criminals she’s hunting – much like Will Graham again from the Hannibal Lecter genre.”