The BBC has yet to officially confirm the season six renewal, but is expected to make an announcement later this month. Brontë Film and TV, the company set up to adapt Rowling's books, is producing. HBO is back on board after co-producing season five, while Cinemax was involved in the previous seasons.
Strike is based on novels by Rowling's pseudonym Robert Galbraith. Season six will adapt The Ink Black Heart, which has echoes of Rowling's own experience of being caught up in the culture wars.
It centers on the murder of a successful YouTube animator after she becomes the target of brutal online hatred. At one point, Edie Ledwell is accused of being transphobic.
Rowling has been clear that the character is not based on her own life, but recognizes that she experienced similar online hate during and after writing the novel, published in August 2022. “I wasn’t clairvoyant… it was just one of those weird twists. Sometimes life imitates art more than one would like,” she said.
The BBC had to apologize to Rowling twice last year after guests on news shows accused her of transphobia. On both occasions the BBC said the broadcasts did not meet its editorial standards.
On Wednesday, Rowling posted a picture of the Strike: The Ink Black Heart episode one script on Twitter, now known as X. It was penned by Tom Edge, who has written on the past four seasons of Strike. “It’s been a fun day,” Rowling said.
Season five, Strike: Troubled Blood, launched in December 2022 to a strong 8 million viewers for BBC 1. The four-part series is expected to attract an average of 6.9 million viewers.
Seven Strike novels have been published under Galbraith’s name, with the most recent book titled The Running Grave. Rowling said on X that she was “getting on very well” with the eighth novel.
