sides of the Atlantic.

The show is the brainchild of two top Hollywood writers, who are also working on the next James Bond movie.

Planned as a joint production between British and US networks, the show could start filming here next year and be on TV screens by next fall. It features a young English detective in the Bermudian Police force and an older American cop who helps him solve murders.

London Weekend Television, the UK company behind the show, is waiting for writers Mr. Will Osborne and Mr. Will Davies to finish a script. If LWT gives it the go-ahead, one of the US networks will help make it.

Several are already interested in the project, which has the working title "Bermuda Grace'' because of its American character, Sam Grace.

Mr. Davies and Mr. Osborne are based in London, but are increasingly in demand in Hollywood. They wrote "Twins'', starring Mr. Danny DeVito and Mr. Arnold Schwarzenegger, and "Stop Or My Mom Will Shoot'', starring Mr. Sylvester Stallone and Ms. Estelle Getty. An upcoming project is "Beverly Hills Cop 3''.

The team have assured Bermudian officials the show would not be based on spectacular action like "Miami Vice''. They intend it to be quieter, and based on the relationship between the two main characters.

"The idea came about five years ago,'' said Mr. Davies from London. "We'd grown up watching one-hour American action-adventure shows and always liked them. One we loved was "The Rockford Files''. It was so funny, but clever as well, and we always wanted to do one like it.

"It may have been one of the Bermuda advertisements that gave us the idea. We thought: `What an amazing place,' and the more we read about it more we felt it would be the perfect place for doing something British people would understand and enjoy, and American people would too.

"We hopped on a plane and went there, and it was everything we hoped it would be.'' Along with LWT representatives, the two writers met Tourism Minister the Hon.

C.V. (Jim) Woolridge and Police Commissioner Mr. Lennett (Lennie) Edwards.

Their way was smoothed by P.c. Phil Taylor, of the Police marine section, who is a "friend of a friend'' of LWT's drama controller, Mr. Nick Elliott.

"The intention is to make it as classy as we can,'' he said. "Bermuda is definitely not Miami so we wanted to do something sophisticated and intricate like "The Rockford Files'', where the characters were quirky and interesting and the plots were clever and kept you guessing.'' Black British actor Mr. Roland Gift, star of the film "Scandal'' and singer with the rock band Fine Young Cannibals, has been tipped to take the role of the Bermuda detective. Bond film actress Ms. Talisa Soto could star as a Bermudian woman who falls in love with one of the cops.

Other characters could include a diving school owner, a lawyer ... and a Police chief.

Bermuda's real-life Police Commissioner, Mr. Edwards, said: "Our main concern was that we didn't want Bermuda depicted in any way which would go against the grain of tourism. The LWT group assured Government it would not be.

"Bermuda is one of those rare places where we still police in the British system, and that will go a long way to attract tourism.

"I think this will be a good thing for Bermuda and we're very pleased that we were selected to take part in it. We'll give them every assistance.'' Tourism director Mr. Gary Phillips commented: "On the surface it looks like something that would be good for raising the visibility of Bermuda, providing we're satisfied it was treating Bermuda the right way.

"I think they came out here on spec and fell in love with the place.''