The BBC has commissioned Grenfell, a drama centred on the 2017 Grenfell Tower fire tragedy which killed 72 people, displaced many more, and dismantled a west London community.

The story will be told through the eyes of the people involved, recounting the stories of the victims, their families and friends, and the firefighters tasked with handling the worst residential fire in Britain since the Second World War.

The series will have been five years in the making. Having drawn on deep research, interviews, official inquiries and public sources, associate producer Ahmed Peerbux said: “We are immensely grateful to the men and women who have shared their stories with us, and let us into their lives - we couldn’t possibly hope to honour their experiences without the time and trust they have given us."

Started by an electrical fire on the fourth floor, the emergency response to the Grenfell Tower fire involved over 250 London firefighters and more than 100 London ambulance teams, all striving to save residents caught in the fire.

Grenfell sparked a wave of furore, despair, investigations and inquests – many of which are still ongoing – as to how the fire started and how it was handled at the time by the services tasked with preventing such atrocities.

Following the fire, the UK government launched a review of building regulations and fire safety, resulting in an ongoing nationwide cladding crisis where many tower blocks have been found to have improper combustible cladding. The social fallout from Grenfell has affected thousands as residents have since been required to pay for remedial work to correctly insulate their homes.

The drama was written and will be directed by Peter Kosminsky (The Undeclared War). Discussing Grenfell, he said: “In our drama, we attempt to pick our way through hours of public testimony, as well as original interviews conducted by our team, to reach the heart of this catastrophe: how such a thing can have happened; how we can avoid it ever happening again.”

Grenfell will be created by independent production company The Forge for BBC One and iPlayer. The cast and release date are expected to be announced soon.