As part Make it Digital Initiative to increase computer skills amongst young people, BBC Two is going to be creating a TV drama about the birth of Grand Theft Auto. The 90 minute special will focus on the sibling creators of GTA, Dan and Sam Houser, during the birth of the game and the resulting public and media reaction.
The BBC Media Centre gives this pitch of the show.
This special 90-minute drama will tell the story of arguably the greatest British coding success story since Bletchley Park – the triumph of the computer game Grand Theft Auto.
Unlike many coding success stories, Grant Theft Auto was not created in Silicon Valley – it was the brainchild of a bunch of British gaming geniuses who had known each other since their school days. In autumn 2013 its latest iteration – GTA:V – earned $1bn in its first three days, becoming the fastest selling entertainment product in history.
GTA offered gamers the chance to step into a fantasy world where they could behave like criminals, gun down rival gangsters and cops, hijack cars and venture deeper into an imaginary American gangland underworld.
But the violent gameplay coupled with its outstanding success led to fierce opposition: from parents worried about children immersing themselves in such a violent world; from politicians, alarmed at the values it encourages; and above all from moral-campaigners, who have fought passionately to stop it.
Grand Theft Auto tells the story of how the game was conceived and created and the subsequent fallout as various groups objected to its violent gameplay.
There are no details yet as to who will play the brothers or when exactly the show will air.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ONsp_bmDYXc
Originally published March 12, 2015. Updated April 15, 2018.
