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Dirk Gently will return to ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Four for a 3x60 minute series in 2012.

Written by BAFTA-winning Howard Overman (Misfits, Merlin), the drama is based on Douglas Adams' cult novel Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency.

The series commission comes on the back of the hugely popular one-hour instalment in December last year, which attracted 1.1m viewers (3.9% share) on ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Four, over three times the channel's slot average. This will be the first drama series commission for ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Four.

Howard Overman says: "I'm thrilled to have the opportunity to write more episodes of Dirk and look forward to seeing where his unique detective methodology and perspective on life takes me."

Anti-hero Dirk Gently operates his eponymous detective agency based on the fundamental interconnectedness of all things. Perpetually broke, hopelessly chaotic and utterly infuriating, most people suspect Dirk is nothing more than a cheap conman. And they might be right – but nevertheless his methods, though unusual, do often produce surprising results.

Dirk Gently is being produced by ITV Studios in association with The Welded Tandem Picture Company. Saurabh Kakkar is executive producer for ITV Studios and Eleanor Moran is executive producer for the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳.

The drama was commissioned by Ben Stephenson, Controller, ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Drama Commissioning, and Richard Klein, Controller, ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Four.

CM4