This week saw watercooler conversations turn from “What am I going to do now The Fall has finished?” to “Did you SEE The Returned?”

Channel 4 obtained the UK premiere rights to the hit French series (Les Revenants) which is set in a small Alpine village. The supernatural thriller has already proved a critical hit, with Ben Lawrence of The Daily Telegraph saying: “The Returned, then, has taken the essential shock elements of its genre and bolstered them with emotional depth.”

Our very own Paul Abbott, seasoned TV writer of numerous acclaimed dramas (Shameless, State of Play, Touching Evil etc) is working on an English language version, with the current working title They Came Back. His own shingle, AbbottVision is developing the adaptation, with Abbott writing and producing. There is currently no broadcaster attached.

However, it is unlikely that things will start moving on this one until early next year, as AbbottVision are busy on another drama first, No Offence, currently eyeing an end-of-year shoot.

Further information on They Came Back is available on Production Intelligence, the online database of advance production news from The Knowledge.