YORK is set to feature as the backdrop in a new TV series which has been described as the "Morse for the Millennium".

Independent production company Tempest Films has bought the television rights to Poet In The Gutter, York author John Baker's crime novel, and to the book's lead character, unconventional private eye Sam Turner.

The BBC has paid for the book to be turned into a screenplay. Now Tempest Films is confident that the BBC or ITV will commission a series of six hour-long episodes.

Actor Jack Ellis, star of TV dramas Prime Suspect and Beck, is the driving force behind the project. He is passionate about playing Sam Turner on the small screen.

"The character sits very comfortably on my shoulders," he said. "It's a brilliant piece of writing.

"I see him as the Morse for the Millennium."

John Baker said he was delighted by the prospect of seeing his work turned into a television series.

Since Poet In The Gutter was published he has written two more Sam Turner novels, Death Minus Zero and King Of The Street, which was launched at the Stonebow Snooker Club in York yesterday.

Among the locations used in the novels are Bettys Caf, York Minster and York Racecourse.

"York is a major character in the books," said Jack Ellis.

"No-one has ever plundered York as a location. It will be like Oxford is to Morse."

* A profile of John Baker will appear in the Evening Press next week.

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