ITV has commissioned a new medical drama set in the 1960s.
Breathless will be centred on a group of gynaecologists working in London at the advent of the 'sexual revolution' in 1961, before the legalisation of abortion and the introduction of the contraceptive pill.
"There were some women working in this area and they will be in the series, but gynaecology was a mainly male world at this time," a source told The Guardian.
"This was before the pill and the legalisation of abortion and the 1960s hit the country and it was a totally different world. It was also before Profumo, and there was a lot of covering up going on within the establishment which at the time was relatively immune from scrutiny."
Breathless has been co-created by Paul Unwin (Casualty), who confirmed via the Sofa Productions website website on Friday (February 1) that he will storyline the series and write a number of scripts.
The six-part drama is yet to be cast, but ITV is believed to have set a target premiere date of early 2014.
The BBC's Call the Midwife, based on Jennifer Worth's memoirs of her time working as a midwife in London's East End during the 1950s, has enjoyed continued ratings popularity since its return to screens earlier this month.
Miranda Hart was also recently honoured with the 'Drama Performance: Female' prize at the National Television Award for her work on the series.
