Strike: Producer rules out original stories as J K Rowling praises Tom Burke’s performance

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The first installment of Strike aired on BBC One last night to great fan reactions, and the following episode of The Cuckoo’s Calling will follow tonight.

We already know that adaptations of the first three stories in J K Rowling’s Cormoran Strike series have been filmed, but one thing we can clear off the table straight is the possibility of the show veering off into uncharted territory once the source material has been used up (Rowling is currently writing a fourth book).

Ruth Kenley-Letts, executive producer on Strike, confirmed (via DigitalSpy): “We’ll definitely wait until the next book comes out and then we’ll start prepping again.”

While Cuckoo’s Calling has been split into three parts, The Silkworm and Career of Evil will comprise of two-parters.

Kenley-Letts also spoke about the road to getting the series made, claiming that there were many offers turned down before the BBC came knocking.

“J K Rowling’s agent did get a number of calls from studios in Hollywood – lots of people, actually. But because we knew that she was planning on writing quite a few of these books in the series – we still don’t know how many – it just seemed natural and lent itself to a TV series. And when the BBC stated that they’d be really keen to commission it, we chose to go that route.”

Part of the deal was likely a certain level of control for Rowling as the author, with writer Ben Richards saying: “She’s a screenwriter as well, so she understands the process. You can’t just take a book and shove it on screen – you have to make changes to make it work, so she was very understanding and generous about it.

“[It] keeps the essence of the books, while making them suitable for the slightly different demands of television.”

And it seems that Rowling is happy with the end result, praising Tom Burke’s performance in the title role to the Radio Times.

“He’s got all of the physicality of the part,” she said. “It’s very important. The character’s an amputee, it’s physically difficult at times for him to move, to walk, to navigate. Tom does it amazing justice and he’s extremely convincing as this wounded soldier.”