The BBC has announced two brand new dramas, ‘The Hairdresser Mysteries’ and ‘The Detection Club’, both rooted in the West Midlands, as part of its pledge to boost investment in the region and showcase authentic voices and stories.
This announcement follows the Corporation’s wider expansion plans in the Midlands, which will see BBC production spend in the region almost double from £24m to £40m annually by the end of 2027. It’s a significant moment for Birmingham and beyond, as the BBC looks to cement Digbeth as one of the UK’s busiest creative hubs.
The Hairdresser Mysteries
Written by internationally acclaimed playwright and screenwriter Jim Cartwright (Road, Vacuuming Completely Nude In Paradise), ‘The Hairdresser Mysteries’ (6×45) offers a nostalgic nod to the 1970s. The story follows Lily Petal, a high-end stylist who abandons the cutthroat world of the city to take over a small village salon perched on a cobbled street. As anyone who’s ever sat in a salon chair knows, clients share everything with their hairdresser, and Lily soon finds herself tangled in her village’s secrets. With her uncanny intuition, she becomes an unlikely detective, solving the mysteries around her.
Sally Phillips (Bridget Jones’s Diary, Veep) will lead the cast as Lily. Production begins this September across the West Midlands, with Will Trotter (Father Brown, Sister Boniface Mysteries) and Oliver Kent (Sanditon, The Burning Girls) serving as executive producers. Directors include Paul Gibson, Jermain Julien, and Tracey Larcombe, with Grainne O’Boyle (Doctors) producing.
The Detection Club
Set in 1930s London, ‘The Detection Club’ (10×45) dives into the golden age of detective fiction. The series imagines what would happen if literary titans Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers, and G.K. Chesterton joined forces to solve real-life murders. Drawn into an invitation that leads them to a very real case, the trio must balance their fictional craft with the harsh realities of crime, much to the frustration of rookie detective D.I. Greenway.
Filming begins in 2026, with BBC Studios Drama Productions handling production and international sales. The show will be created by lead writer Kit Lambert, with Portland House in Digbeth serving as its production base.
Replacing ‘Doctors’?
Both new dramas mark the BBC’s promise to reinvest all of the former Doctors budget into scripted programming in the Midlands. For 23 years, Doctors acted as a springboard for British talent, much like Neighbours and Home & Away did in Australia. The long-running medical soap saw future stars including Eddie Redmayne, Richard Armitage, Nicholas Hoult, Tom Ellis, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Claire Foy, and Emilia Clarke pass through its corridors before hitting the big time. Whether ‘The Hairdresser Mysteries’ or ‘The Detection Club’ can fill that same training-ground role remains to be seen, but both promise to continue the Midlands’ tradition of nurturing new voices.
A Growing Midlands Hub
The dramas are part of the BBC’s second memorandum of understanding with the West Midlands Combined Authority and Create Central. The deal promises more investment in skills and training, apprenticeships, and infrastructure in Digbeth. BBC Studios has already opened a new post-production hub in Portland House, while MasterChef has unveiled its brand-new studio in Digbeth Loc.
BBC Director-General Tim Davie described the expansion as “another transformative moment for the creative industries in the West Midlands”, while West Midlands Mayor Richard Parker highlighted that “hits like Peaky Blinders put the West Midlands on the world stage and brought our first major studio”.
‘The Hairdresser Mysteries’ begins filming in September 2025, while ‘The Detection Club’ will head into production in 2026. Both series will air on BBC iPlayer and BBC Daytime, with UK premiere dates to be confirmed.
If you want to keep track of ‘The Hairdresser Mysteries’ and ‘The Detection Club’, or any other shows, you can add them via our Never Miss system, and you’ll be notified when they get a UK premiere date. Visit Never Miss.
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