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In 2010 the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ will be celebrating the power of the British novel with a major four-part documentary series presented by best selling novelist Sebastian Faulks (The Girl At The L'ion Dor, Birdsong, Devil May Care).

The Secret Life Of The Novel will look at the history of the novel through its characters – each episode focusing on a different archetype and looking at how they have developed over the centuries: The Hero, The Lover, The Snob, The Villain.

Journeying around the country, with the occasional foray abroad, Sebastian will use his unique personal knowledge of characterisation to get under the skin of some familiar and not-so-familiar characters of British literature.

From Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe to Martin Amis's John Self; Jane Austen's Emma to Monica Ali's Chanu; Sebastian will put them all on the psychiatrist's couch.

Mark Bell, Arts Commissioning Editor, commented: "Sebastian is an insider, a novelist with a real understanding of the craft. Booking him to front a four-part series on ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Two about how characterisation works is really exciting. It demonstrates the type of bold arts programming the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ is committed to delivering."

The Secret Life Of The Novel is a four x 60-minute series produced by ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Vision.

Executive producer is Basil Comely and the commissioning editor is Mark Bell.

The series is expected to transmit in Spring 2010 and will start shooting this Autumn.

Notes to Editors

Titles are subject to change

The Secret Life Of The Novel is part of a deeper commitment to arts and music on the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ over the coming year, with a wide range of initiatives aimed at supporting cultural Britain and better serving the public.

These include: big, bold content ideas like the recent pan-³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Poetry season and ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Radio 3's year-long celebration of Purcell, Handel, Haydn and Mendelssohn; the first meeting of The Arts Board which appointed Mark Bell as Arts Co-coordinator; the appointment of a new Arts Editor to ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ News, Will Gompertz; and a new commitment to partnerships, including a project in development with the Public Catalogue Foundation which could enable the public to view every one of the UK's 200,000 publicly-owned oil paintings online

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Information for viewers

More content about The Secret Life Of The Novel will be published, as transmission approaches, on this page: