GOOD NEW FOR UK BASED CRIME WRITERS

ITV3 is lining up a season of classic crime drama and original documentaries in the run up to its first televised Crime Thriller Awards.

The digital channel has commissioned six films that will each profile one of the best crime writers working today - Colin Dexter, Ian Rankin, PD James, Lynda La Plante, Val McDermid and Ruth Rendell.

The profiles will air this autumn in a six-week season of crime drama on the channel. They will focus on the authors behind the shows, their writing methods and the lifestyles their success has brought them. The actors who appear in the shows will also be interviewed to get their take on why their show is so popular.

Each will be followed by the best episodes of the crime shows that originated with these writers, including 'Wire in the Blood', 'Inspector Morse' and 'Rebus'.

The season will culminate with the ITV3 Crime Thriller Awards, which will be staged at London's Gosvenor Hotel and will celebrate the best in crime fiction. Awards will include the Breakthough Award for a new author of note. It will also reward the best crime and thriller films and TV dramas of the year along with the actors who brought the characters to life.

ITV3 viewers will be able to vote for their favourite author from those profiled over the six-week season. The winner will receive the ITV3 Awards for Classic TV Crime Drama.

Book sales are helped by popular TV exposure - the Richard and Judy Award, lightweight they may be, manges to sell shedloads of titles. So something concentrating on the crime/thriller genres should prove a massive success.