Jk Rowling's detective novels - written under the pen name Robert Galbraith - are set to be adapted for the small screen at the BBC. The Cuckoo's Calling and The Silkworm will form the basis of the series, which is being made in collaboration with the Harry Potter author.

JK RowlingJK Rowling will help adapt her crime novels for the BBC, with The Cuckoo's Calling and The Silkworm forming the base

The BBC said it was a "coup" to secure the rights to the books, which feature the private detective Cormoran Strike. It is yet to be announced who will play the down-on-his-luck private investigator, who is described as having "few clients [and] a large debt. He also lost his leg in the Afghan war."

The number of episodes is yet to be decided and it is not yet clear when it will be broadcast - however, filming is likely to get underway in early 2015.

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The BBC has already made a small screen version of Rowling's A Casual Vacancy, which is due to be aired in February. It stars Michael Gambon, Hetty Baynes and the James Bond star Rory Kinnear. 

BBC director of television Danny Cohen said: "It's a wonderful coup for BBC TV to be bringing JK Rowling's latest books to the screen.

"With the rich character of Cormoran Strike at their heart, these dramas will be event television across the world."

Rowling had initially been an anonymous author of The Cuckoo's Calling until information was leaked to the Sunday Times.

Speaking at the Harrogate Crime Writing Festival earlier this year, Rowling suggested she would produce more of the crime novels than her seven Potter stories.

"It's not seven. It's more. It's pretty open ended," she said.

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