Batman TV prequel to focus on commissioner James Gordon

Fox is developing a pre-Batman TV series that will focus on the origin of Gotham commissioner James Gorden.

The origins tale centering on the DC Comics fixture comes to the network from Warner Bros Television.

The series will be executive produced and written by 'The Mentalist' showrunner Bruno Heller.

Apart from showing the history behind Gordon, the show will also focus on the villains of Gotham city. Since it chronicles events before Gordon meets Batman, the superhero will not be part of the series -- but Gordon's roots in the Batman universe go quite deep.

The commissioner was famously portrayed by Gary Oldman in Christopher Nolan's trilogy.