Alan Bleasdale, author of TV series GBH, has penned a two-part drama for BBC2 about the sinking of RMS Laconia in September 1942.

Made by Talkback Thames and German producer Teamworx, Laconia is based on factual accounts of the attack and subsequent sinking of the boat by a German U-Boat.

The two 90-minute episodes follows how the U-Boat’s commander, Lieutenant Commander Werner Hartenstein, mounted a rescue operation after realising the ship he had sunk was carrying civilians and Italian prisoners of war.

BBC controller of fiction Jane Tranter said: “Laconia is a powerful and compelling story and we’re delighted to be bringing it to BBC2, along with the esteemed storytelling talents of Alan Bleasdale.”

Bleasdale, whose last project for the Corporation was The Monocled Mutineer in 1986, described his new project as an astonishing tale of “bravery, humanity, warmth and near-madness in the face of fascism and the cruelty of war”.

“There have been nightmares along the way but every writer must dream of being given a story such as this,” he added.

Laconia will start filming later this year in Germany and Malta for transmission on BBC2 in 2009.