PBS announced Monday at the Television Critics Association press tour that the station will be adding a historical drama set during the Civil War to its schedule, and it will be produced by Ridley Scott.
The series will be based on true stories and research that was conducted over the past three years. It will consist of six episodes and follow two volunteer nurses on opposite sides of the war who work at a hotel in Alexandria, Virginia that is turned into a union hospital. One nurse is Mary Phinney, a New England abolitionist, and the other is Emma Green, a young Confederate belle.
“We’re looking to do drama that is a little different than what everyone else is doing, which is not just to entertain but to educate and inspire,” PBS president and CEO Paula A. Kerger stated.
“We think it’s important to tell American stories with American history at the roots,” PBS chief programming executive Beth Hoppe said. “It’s at a time when so much was going on. It’s such rich territory.”
Scott will executive produce the drama alongside The Good Wife’s David W. Zucker and Desperate Crossing’s Lisa Q. Wolfinger. ER’s David Zabel penned the series.
PBS plans to air the historical drama in 2016 on Sunday nights.
