Alan Ball

"True Blood" creator Alan Ball has a new drama in development that will air on HBO. The work is titled "Wichita" and revolves around the true story of a doctor who was one of the few in America who would perform late-term abortions.

Ball will produce the project with Jimmy Miller and its script will be written by Devin Friedman, a senior writer for GQ who has covered the shows protagonist in a previous article. The doctor in question is one Dr George Tiller, who was murdered two years ago.

Tiller served as the medical director for the Women's Health Care Services facility. This clinic was one of only three in America at the time that would provide women with abortions after the 21st week of their pregnancy.

The clinic attracted the ire of anti-abortionists, who would regularly maintain vigil's outside the facility. In 1993 Tiller was shot by Shelley Shannon but survived the attack. In 2009 Tiller was shot dead whilst serving as an usher at the Reformation Lutheran Church in Wichita. His assailant was Scott Roeder, a long-time anti-abortionist activist who was consequentially convicted of Tiller's murder.

Whilst the topic of death is a common subject-area for Ball, this project will no doubt take a more sombre tone compared to the dark, humorous undertones of his previous works.