Written and created by Lucy Kirkwood (Skins), the eight-part drama will begin filming early next year for transmission later in late 2013.

Anne Mensah, Sky1’s Head of Drama, commented: “We wanted to bring a new, modern view of heroism to Sky 1 HD. [The Smoke] has all the huge scale action and adrenaline that a show about fire can bring to the screen, but in Lucy’s hands there is also a beautiful depth and complexity to the characterisation. This is a show that asks real questions about what it means to be a man in today’s world.”

Executive produer Jane Featherstone added: “You’ve never seen a fire show like this before.”

The official synopsis reads: “At the heart of the story is a family of firemen and women who, no matter what, always have each other to fall back on. But being a hero isn’t easy, especially in a world that regularly disregards them, and it certainly doesn’t pay. Many crew members are forced to hold down other jobs on the side, taking some of them into the city’s after dark world. The stakes are high but, in The Smoke, it’s the very lives and souls of the White Watch crew that are at risk.”

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