ITV orders Ann Summers comedy drama

ITV is making Brief Encounters, a comedy drama based on the autobiography of Ann Summers boss Jacqueline Gold.

The six-part series, which will be set in the early 1980s, follows the adventures of four women as they start selling exotic lingerie.

Published in 1996, Gold's book Good Vibrations focuses on how she turned around the fortunes of lingerie and sex toy retailer Ann Summers by organising parties at women's homes.

The publishers explained at the time of publication: "When Jacqueline Gold first joined Ann Summers, the company was going nowhere. Then she devised the 'Party Plan', and the company became a retailing legend. Within two years she had 1,500 party givers and now 13 years later there are over 7,000 women organising parties throughout Britain, Ireland, Holland, Denmark and Germany.

"The company turns over £40 million through 4,500 parties held every week selling lingerie, 'Personal Products' and 'Novelty Items' to over two million women each year. This book is the inside story of the creation of the Ann Summers phenomenon from the lady who created it."

The project to turn the book into a TV series has been underway some time, with CPL Productions having started on the pilot over a year ago.

Brief Encounters is being written by Fay Rusling and Oriane Messina, writers who have previously worked on comedies such as Green Wing and Me And Mrs Jones.

ITV's Steve November told BroadcastNow that the show was "full of heart", adding "Brief Encounters is a refreshingly different domestic drama taking us back to the wonderful world of the 1980s."

Executive Producer Danielle Lux says: "We are absolutely thrilled to be producing our first drama for ITV. CPL takes great pride in producing television with heart and soul and Brief Encounters has that in spades."

Filming on Brief Encounters will begin in February, with the series set to be shown on ITV later in 2016.