A story built for television
She’s dying to find her husband a new wife.
When therapist Emily Greenfield learns she has less than a year to live, her greatest fear is leaving behind James, her gentle, meticulously practical neurodivergent husband. Convinced that grief will make him vulnerable, she recruits a reluctant panel of friends and family to help find Mrs Greenfield the Third, all without James knowing.
His first wife divorced him. His second is terminally ill. Determined not to leave her husband untethered, Emily Greenfield sets out to find Mrs Greenfield the Third, recruiting a reluctant cast of friends and family along the way.
It is a high-concept premise with a ticking clock, an impossible mission and an ensemble who cannot agree on whether to help: the kind of engine a returning television audience keeps coming back for.
Everything in one place
- Title
- Mrs Greenfield the Third
- Format
- 6 × 60-minute television drama
- Genre
- Premium character-led drama with dark humour
- Setting
- Contemporary England
- Audience
- Broad adult audience with strong female appeal
- Tone
- Warm, candid, irreverent and ultimately hopeful
- Based on
- The completed novel by EJ Greensted
- Writer / creator
- EJ Greensted
- Status
- Television treatment available; screen adaptation rights available
- Contact
- ej@greensted.com
Emily will make James safe after she dies. James will make Emily happy while she lives. Both plans are loving. Both avoid the truth.
The comedy never comes from cancer. It comes from character.
Why it works for television
A single-location feature premise, stretched over a season, would run thin. As a six-part drama it gets room to breathe.
- The matchmaking project gives the series a strong episodic engine.
- Each prospective Mrs Greenfield the Third exposes a new fault line in Emily and James’s marriage.
- The reluctant selection panel creates an evolving ensemble around them.
- Two competing acts of love drive the season: Emily’s plan to make James safe, and James’s plan to make Emily happy.
- James’s journey is towards agency. Not becoming less neurodivergent, but becoming the author of his own life.
An ensemble built for casting
Mrs Greenfield the Third gathers Emily, her husband James, her best friend Lizzie, James’s sister Hannah, his closest friend Mike and his chaotic oldest friend Alfie into one impossible plan, with Emily’s daughter Alix as its sharpest critic. Every character arrives with their own reason to say no, and their own reason to stay.
- A salsa class test-drive date
- A community choir rehearsal
- A speed dating disaster
- A flower arranging class turned interrogation
A novelist with a performer’s ear
A rare combination for television: psychological insight, performance experience, comic timing and a strong media presence, from the writer who created the story.
- Novelist, author of Mrs Greenfield the Third
- Published nonfiction author of Know to Go, a self-help book for survivors of domestic abuse
- Therapist and counsellor, with real insight into grief, relationships and family
- Award-nominated actress, on stage and screen
- Radio presenter on Cabin FM 94.6
- Trainer and speaker, comfortable pitching in the room
- Developing stand-up comic, with a natural ear for comic timing and dialogue
Frequently asked
Is Mrs Greenfield the Third being adapted for television?
Yes. A six-part television adaptation has been developed from the novel, and Emma-Jane Greensted is actively seeking conversations with producers, development executives and other creative partners.
Is there a finished script or pilot?
Not yet. What exists is a substantive television treatment covering the series proposition, characters, relationships, season arc and episode-by-episode breakdown. A complete script would follow the right creative partnership.
Can I read the treatment?
The treatment is available on request, following an appropriate conversation with producers, development executives, screenwriters or other relevant industry contacts.
Who is Emma-Jane Greensted?
She is a novelist and published nonfiction author, a therapist and counsellor, an award-nominated actress, a radio presenter, a trainer and speaker, and a developing stand-up comic.
How can I get involved?
Email ej@greensted.com to request the television treatment or start a conversation about the adaptation. Emma-Jane welcomes contact from producers, development executives, screenwriters, representatives and anyone able to make a meaningful introduction.
Television treatment available. Actively seeking the right creative partners.