Checklist Films readies The Iron Rose
October 3, 2023
West Midlands based production company Checklist Films has secured the rights to the pre-published historical novel, The Iron Rose, written by Keith Thomas, which chronicles the dramatic life of iron and steel pioneer Robert Forester Mushet during Britain’s Industrial Revolution. Created by Keith Thomas, with the screenplay written by John F. McDonald (The Traveller), the series is being developed into a returning period drama series.
With a passion and ambition to tell little-known stories that stem from the West Midlands and West Country, Checklist Films’ The Iron Rose is an epic Victorian family saga set in the midst of the Industrial Revolution in Gloucestershire’s Forest of Dean, in the competitively fought coal mines and iron furnaces where fortunes were made and lost.
Told through the eyes of the family business successor Robert Forester Mushet from his youth, The Iron Rose tells the story of love, hate, loyalty and jealousy, ambition and despair, deception and dishonour, during a time when Britain was rapidly changing, and families strived – and feuded – to stay ahead or get forgotten about to the annals of time.
Descending from a family of power spanning generations, Robert Forester Mushet is an ambitious man, obsessed with the innovative and technological advances of the industrial age, and making a name for himself. As hot as the molten metal he produces and as tough as the steel he goes on to invent, he is risking it all by putting his personal happiness and fortune on the line to pioneer the next big thing. But as success descends upon the family, he soon tastes the betrayal and deceit as other ambitious men circle to capitalise on his inventions and finds himself battling the dreaded Mushet curse, which plagues his family.
Weaving multiple stories of the intermeshed lives of family, friends and antagonists over 6×60 minutes returning series drama, The Iron Rose mixes passion, intrigue and love affairs with the ruthless ambitions of the 1800’s Iron Masters jostling for position and power. This little-known slice of history is set to grip audiences across the globe.
Hakam Poselay, Executive Producer and CEO of Checklist Films said: “The Iron Rose is an incredible story from the West Country. Our protagonist in Robert Mushet is a forgotten part of our history, and his story is fascinating – the stuff of dreams for producers. His tale is full of ambition, love, family feuds and power play, as he finds himself the target of theft for his original inventions, which ultimately saw him erased from history. These pioneers in the West Country had an enormous impact on the development and growth of the UK, and this tale offers a fascinating insight into the grit, determination and personal sacrifices that were made to build the country that we know today. We’re so proud to be able to bring this story back to life, and we know audiences will be intrigued and gripped. And we hope to make the people of Gloucestershire proud, and we can’t wait to showcase some of the counties most beautiful and interesting locations.”
Keith Thomas, The Iron Rose creator and author, added: “Robert Mushet has been a part of my life for over 30 years as I have studiously researched his and his family’s fascinating story and impact on the steel industry and revolution. It’s incredibly exciting to now be bringing these tangled stories to life on the screen. And, in comparison to those dark satanic industrial days, we now live in a time of ecological fragility, and I am very proud to be working with Checklist Films, for its genuine ethical commitment and pioneering policy of sustainability.”