ITV has announced the commission of a new three-part drama series starring Sheridan Smith (Mrs Biggs, Cilla).

Smith will star as police officer Jo Gillespie, a woman whose husband – an undercover policeman – is shot dead in mysterious circumstances.

Black Work sees Jo set out to discover who murdered him and confront difficult truths about her family life and her marriage.

The official synopsis reads: “Mother to 7-years-old Melly and stepson Hal, Jo is emotionally distraught and heavily conflicted as she unravels the last six months of her husband’s life. She’s grieving and wracked with guilt following an attachment to Ryan’s colleague and fellow police officer Jack Clark, which puts further strain on her grieving family. Working out of a lock-up on a shadowy case for which no police department will take responsibility, Ryan has been watching a man recently released from prison. But why? And under whose orders?”

Written by Matt Charman and directed by Michael Bafta (Any Human Heart, The Fear), Black Works begins filming this autumn in Leeds.

Charman commented: “Sheridan Smith is a dream to write for because as an actress there’s really nothing she can’t do. And Black Work is a story that pushes her to the limit – it makes her character, Jo Gillespie doubt herself, her family, her friends, everything she’s always taken for granted in her search for her husband’s killer.”

ITV’s Director of Drama Commissioning Steve November added: “We’re delighted to be working with Sheridan Smith again and with the hugely talented Matt Charman. Black Work is a high stakes drama which sees Jo risk everything in search of the truth.  It’s a risk she’s prepared to take but it threatens to destroy both her family and career.”

Are you looking forward to Black Work? Let us know below…