BBC’s Grand Theft Auto television drama isn’t what you think

So today, BBC announced that it was making a new "BBC Two drama based on Grand Theft Auto." Sweet, right!?

Well, kind of. You see, BBC's new show isn't inspired by the events in Grand Theft Auto, but rather the development of the critically acclaimed series. In the press release, BBC calls GTA "one of the most extraordinary creative and controversial stories of our time," which we tend to agree with.

So while the premise of a show revolving around the making of one of the most controversial games ever developed sounds interesting, it's probably not the Grand Theft Auto show you were hoping for.

The new show is part of Make it Digital — a major UK-wide initiative "to inspire a new generation to get creative with coding, programming and digital technology." With the UK facing "a significant skills shortage with 1.4 million digital professionals needed over the next five years," Britain is hoping a "wide-reaching season of Make it Digital content across TV, radio and online will showcase how Britain has helped shape the digital world, raise awareness among mainstream audiences on why digital matters, and inspire younger audiences to have a go and get creative with digital technologies."

BBC has also confirmed (via Videogamer) that the Grand Theft Auto show will be a 90-minute-long drama that will "tell the story of arguably the greatest British coding success story since Bletchley Park – the triumph of the computer game Grand Theft Auto."

"Unlike many coding success stories, Grant [sic] Theft Auto was not created in Silicon Valley – it was the brainchild of a bunch of British gaming geniuses who had known each other since their school days," the BBC continued. "GTA offered gamers the chance to step into a fantasy world where they could behave like criminals, gun down rival gangsters and cops, hijack cars and venture deeper into an imaginary American gangland underworld."

"But the violent gameplay coupled with its outstanding success led to fierce opposition: from parents worried about children immersing themselves in such a violent world; from politicians, alarmed at the values it encourages; and above all from moral-campaigners, who have fought passionately to stop it.

"Grand Theft Auto tells the story of how the game was conceived and created and the subsequent fallout as various groups objected to its violent gameplay."

No broadcast date for the show has been announced yet.