BBC's The Split spin-off writer teases "sexy" and "messy" drama to come in upcoming series

The cast then reunited for The Split: Barcelona, a two-part special that aired late last year. The spin-off, however, is set to be a brand new foray into the world of legal drama. A "really sexy" one, teases one of the show's writers.

Speaking exclusively to RadioTimes.com for his Pass the Mic interview, writer Kaamil Shah opened up about his work in the upcoming six-part series, and how it's doing something many won't have seen before.

He said: "So the show [...] which I'm working on and doing an episode for is, I would say it's one of the very few shows that's been commissioned with a fully British Asian writing staff. It's a spin-off of Abi Morgan’s The Split, called The Split Up.

"It's with a new family of British Asian divorce lawyers in Manchester. Very exciting to be working on that with an excellent showrunner, Ursula Rani Sarma. That's really exciting. It's doing something very different with British Asians on screen."

He went on: "I think it's really sexy. I'm really proud to be working on a show that's genuinely got heart-stopping moments of British Asians being messy, having relationship dramas, affairs and all of these fun things. So I'm really excited to be working on that."

The series had initially been announced and commissioned back in 2024, with recent reports confirming filming is set to kick off this autumn.

Filming on the series was postponed one month before it was due to start, with RadioTimes.com reporting at the time that the delay was due to "editorial reasons".

The Split was created by Abi Morgan, who will still serve as executive producer on The Split Up, with the new spin-off being helmed by playwright and screenwriter Rani Sarma, who has created the characters and stories of this new entity.

Speaking of Morgan's involvement in The Split Up, Shah said: "[Abi Morgan]’s been part of the process, she’s been really generous to give this kind of space to British Asian creatives as well, to take her brilliant format and develop it.

"That’s been amazing and I think it’s going to be a really good show. Hopefully going to film soon and should be really exciting."

As for how the writing process has come together, Shah said: "The other writers are Sonali Bhattacharyya and Sumerah Srivastav. All amazingly talented women, I’m the only man in the room. I’m standing up for the British Asian man [saying] that ‘we can be hot too’.

"It’s been a fantastic experience, we’ve really worked so hard on these scripts. There’s a brilliant cast coming together, amazing creatives. I’m obviously just an episodic writer so I’m not super involved in the production, but I think that this is an excellent gift to the creative community of South Asians, in that, as you said The Split was such a huge hit."

He added: "I think having that imprint on this show kind of, hopefully, will bridge potentially an audience commissioners can sometimes think might hold off on watching a show with a primarily South Asian cast.

"So I think having The Split brand identity to it will give it a legitimacy in the eyes of that audience and then, hopefully, really spread out and reach a really wide pool of people.”

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While a release date is yet to be announced, we can anticipate it will once filming begins, as well as further exciting announcements in due course.

The series is set to "explore the weight of parental expectations, the forces that keep families together and the truths that tear them apart. Welcome to Kishan Law. Welcome to the family," as per the BBC synopsis.

It continues: "Kishan Law is a British-Asian high net worth family law firm in Manchester, noted for its clientele and its reputation. They are the ‘go to firm’ for Manchester’s elite who come to them for their excellence, integrity, and discretion.

"But the future and legacy of Kishan Law hangs in the balance when a family secret from the past comes to light, throwing their professional and personal lives into turmoil."

The Split Up will be coming soon to the BBC. The Split is available to stream now on BBC iPlayer.

Kaamil Shah's interview for Pass the Mic is available to watch in full now on RadioTimes.com and on YouTube.

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