MUMBAI: UK pubcaster The BBC has announced that its channel BBC One will air the drama series The Virgin Queen from next month. The show explores the full sweep of the long and eventful life of England's iconic queen Elizabeth - from her days of fear as a potential victim of her sister's terror; through her great love affair with Robert Dudley; into her years of triumph over the Armada; and finally her old age and her last enigmatic relationship with her young protégé, the Earl of Essex.

It has been written by Paula Milne. BBC head of drama series and serials Laura Mackie says, "Paula has written an amazing number of dramas. I felt she would be a great choice given her track record for writing female characters. The fact that Paula knew very little about Elizabeth was a huge asset because she came without any preconceptions: she just immersed herself in research, and once she'd done that, she carved her way through in a kind of bravura way, taking a very personal approach to the material, writing something which is an intimate and personal portrait."

Milne says, "I decided to look at Elizabeth as a character, a stateswoman and public figure using some contemporary references to see if they held up. What we have done in this drama which differs from the many portrayals of her in theatre, movies and television before is that we have taken the whole of her life. Some of my favourite moments are really in the personal stuff; the see-sawing, pulling to and fro between Elizabeth and Dudley and her temptation and desire to be close to him, to even marry him and then pulling away. I always get misty-eyed about that because that to me is the heart of Elizabeth and Dudley."

The Virgin Queen is part of a broad portfolio of projects including The Family Man, Mayo, Soundproof - and more recently, Shakespeare Re-Told and Bleak House.