BBC tells JK Rowling the conclusion of The Casual Vacancy is too 'grim'

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The Casual Vacancy's scriptwriter decided novel's ending was too 'grim'
Sunday night audiences need some kind of 'redemptive moment', she said
The bleak novel features storylines involving rape, drug abuse and racism
A three-part drama based on JK Rowling's novel begins airing on Sunday

By Corey Charlton and Amanda Williams for MailOnline

Published: 03:02 EST, 10 February 2015 | Updated: 08:27 EST, 10 February 2015

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It was the novel which confirmed J.K. Rowling could address gritty adult issues as well as she could weave magic for children in the Harry Potter books.

But it seems The Casual Vacancy was a little too bleak for the BBC.

The broadcaster has decided that Rowling's first attempt at adult literature since the success of the Harry Potter series was too 'grim' for the small screen - so producers have rewritten the ending for Sunday night audiences.

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The ending of JK Rowling's first foray into adult literature is too 'grim' for BBC's Sunday night audience

The three-part drama paints a bleak picture of modern Britain and involves storylines involving rape, drug abuse and racism. Pictured is Sir Michael Gambon and Julie McKenzie, who star in the upcoming mini-series

A television adaptation of The Casual Vacancy is due to begin screening on Sunday night.

The three-part drama, starring Sir Michael Gambon, Keeley Hawes and Rory Kinnear, paints a bleak picture of life in modern Britain and features storylines involving rape, drug abuse and racism.

Set in the fictitious English town of Pagford, it features a community of rich and poor at war over the future of a community centre called Sweetlove House, home to social services including a drug rehabilitation centre and a food bank.

Pagford's wealthier residents, who are fed up with the centre being a haven for 'junkies and plebs' from a nearby council estate called The Fields, want to close it for good and turn it into a luxury hotel and spa.

From left, Alex Lowe, Terri Weedon and Rory Kinnear are pictured in the upcoming adaptation of The Casual Vacancy

The raft of changes made to the storyline of The Casual Vacancy have not been limited to its ending. Pictured is actor Brian Vernell and actress Simona Brown in a scene from the BBC adaptation

The Casual Vacancy arrives on Sunday night

They are bitterly opposed by the liberal faction on Pagford parish council who believe it is essential for social cohesion.

But the story paints such a bleak picture of modern Britain that its scriptwriter said she told Rowling 'very straight' that the ending needed to change.

MIXED PRAISE FROM THE CRITICS, BUT A READERS' FAVOURITE

The Casual Vacancy sold 125,000 copies in its first week on the market, becoming the fastest-selling hardback in the UK for three years and the second biggest seller since records began in 1998.

But, it had a mixed response from critics when it was first released in September.

The Guardian said it was 'unadventurous' with a 'righteous social message', while The Times said Miss Rowling had a 'sharp eye for vivid detail'.

Daily Mail writer Jan Moir described it as: '500 pages of relentless socialist manifesto, masquerading as literature, crammed down your throat.'

In 2013 a publisher admitted she turned down Rowling's pseudonymous thriller The Cuckoo's Calling after finding it 'perfectly decent but quiet'.

But when Rowling was exposed as the author of The Cuckoo’s Calling by the wife of one of her lawyers, sales soared.

Former EastEnders scriptwriter Sarah Phelps told the Radio Times: 'I was very straight with Jo and told her that I needed to write a different ending,'

'It's still heartbreaking, but I had to find some kind of redemptive moment at the end of it all - a sense that after the tragedy, someone gets to stand with a slightly straighter back.

'Nobody wants a finger wagged in their face, and I learnt on EastEnders that if you just go 'grim, grim, grim', viewers will simply disengage.'

However, changes to the storyline have not been limited to just its bleak ending.

Last week questions were raised over other edits to the plot, which some suggested were made in order to ramp up left-wing issues weeks before the General Election.

Tory MP and former Foreign Secretary Sir Malcolm Rifkind last week said the timing of the broadcast struck him as being 'very odd at least'.

He said: 'In the run-up to a General Election, the Government quite rightly has to go into purdah and refrain from doing anything provocative. I think the BBC should have to apply the same criteria.'

The drama does not mention any political parties but critics say the battle over Sweetlove House is a thinly disguised attack on the Government's welfare cuts, which will be one of the crucial issues for the May 7 Election.

The Casual Vacancy sold 125,000 copies in its first week on the market, becoming the fastest-selling hardback in the UK for three years and the second biggest seller since records began in 1998.

Hettie Baynes Russel pictured as the character Mo in the three-part series, due to begin airing on Sunday

But, it had a mixed response from critics when it was first released in September.

The Guardian said it was 'unadventurous' with a 'righteous social message', while The Times said Miss Rowling had a 'sharp eye for vivid detail'.

Daily Mail writer Jan Moir described it as: '500 pages of relentless socialist manifesto, masquerading as literature, crammed down your throat.'

In 2013 a publisher admitted she turned down Rowling's pseudonymous thriller The Cuckoo's Calling after finding it 'perfectly decent but quiet'.

Kate Mills, fiction editor at Orion Publishing, said she couldn't see a USP for the crime novel, submitted to her by 'first-time author Robert Galbraith', in a 'tough' market.

But when Rowling was exposed as the author of The Cuckoo’s Calling by the wife of one of her lawyers, sales soared.

The publisher of The Cuckoo’s Calling had claimed it was written by a former plain clothes Royal Military Police investigator using the pen-name of Galbraith.

Rowling was exposed after a mother-of-two posted a message on Twitter outing the 47-year-old as the real author.

She had been told by a partner in Rowling’s legal firm Russells Solicitors, who told his wife’s best friend, in a private conversation.

At the time Rowling released a statement saying it had ‘not been pleasant’ to spend days wondering how a woman unknown to her could expose a secret ‘that many of my oldest friends did not know.’

BBC ACCUSED OF POLITICAL BIAS IN ROWLING DRAMA: HOW BEEB RAMPED UP CLASS DIVIDE IN ADAPTATION JUST WEEKS BEFORE THE ELECTION

SCENE 1

The BBC: In the opening scenes, Councillor Howard Mollison, played by Sir Michael Gambon, and his social-climbing wife Shirley (Julia McKenzie) discuss plans for a luxury hotel and spa development. A gleeful Shirley tells her husband: ‘It’s beautiful. You feel better just looking at it. You can’t let Barry Fairbrother and his tribe of do-gooders stand in the way of progress. They’ll have to accept that Sweetlove House has had its day.’

In the novel: The plan for a luxury hotel and spa does not appear at all.

SCENE 2

The BBC: Opposing the plans, Councillor Fairbrother says: ‘That is social engineering. That’s apartheid. Herding people into ghettos because they don’t fit the aesthetic. There is a name for that, isn’t there. Bill, you stormed the Normandy beaches didn’t you, fighting fascism... That house helps people to live. The parish council is not here to make a quick buck for someone who already has more than enough... Is the legacy still of benefit? Yes. It has never been so important.’

In the novel: Councillor Fairbrother dies on page two having hardly uttered a word.

SCENE 3

The BBC: When progressive councillor Parminder Jawanda tells her colleagues that drug addicts will have to travel to nearby Yarvil to get help, a rival tells her: ‘They would crawl on their knees over broken glass if there were drugs to be had.’

In the novel: She uses far milder language, saying addicts should have their benefits cut.