Exclusive: Sherlock star Mark Gatiss is writing and starring in a British TV drama about a bookshop owner who helps police solve crimes.
Bookish will be a six-part series for UKTV crime drama network Alibi set in post-war London in 1946. Gatiss, the co-creator of BBC shows such as Sherlock and The League of Gentlemen and Netflix/BBC’s Dracula and actor in films including Operation Mincemeat and Mission Impossible — Dead Reckoning, is the creator.
The series will follow Gabriel Book (Gatiss), an “erudite and unconventional” sleuth who cracks mysterious cases from his antiquated bookshop, using the thousands of books that line his shelves to provide him with the knowledge that he needs. Around him are a gathering of “loveable, damaged misfits who he informally protects, cajoles and mentors.”
Starring alongside Gatiss is Polly Walker (Bridgerton, Line of Duty), who plays Book’s colourful wife Trottie. She is charismatic and adventurous,...
Bookish will be a six-part series for UKTV crime drama network Alibi set in post-war London in 1946. Gatiss, the co-creator of BBC shows such as Sherlock and The League of Gentlemen and Netflix/BBC’s Dracula and actor in films including Operation Mincemeat and Mission Impossible — Dead Reckoning, is the creator.
The series will follow Gabriel Book (Gatiss), an “erudite and unconventional” sleuth who cracks mysterious cases from his antiquated bookshop, using the thousands of books that line his shelves to provide him with the knowledge that he needs. Around him are a gathering of “loveable, damaged misfits who he informally protects, cajoles and mentors.”
Starring alongside Gatiss is Polly Walker (Bridgerton, Line of Duty), who plays Book’s colourful wife Trottie. She is charismatic and adventurous,...
- 4/10/2024
- by Jesse Whittock and Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Ridley producer West Road Pictures has boosted its development team with a double hire.
Leah Foster joins from Ghosts indie Monumental Television to become Development Executive and Sarah Caswell has been signed as Development Associate. Foster has also been a script editor across numerous shows and Caswell was most recently Development Executive at My Accomplice, where she focused on nurturing new writing talent. Both are newly-created roles.
Alongside the All3Media-backed indie’s Head of Development Ellie Birnie, the pair will focus on the growth of the company’s drama development and build on the scripted slate.
West Road was launched four years ago by Blood exec Jonathan Fisher and has since made Adrian Dunbar-starring Ridley for ITV, along with the same network’s Hollington Drive and Channel 5 thriller Penance.
Fisher said: “It’s very exciting to be welcoming two driven and ambitious creatives to the company in Leah and Sarah.
Leah Foster joins from Ghosts indie Monumental Television to become Development Executive and Sarah Caswell has been signed as Development Associate. Foster has also been a script editor across numerous shows and Caswell was most recently Development Executive at My Accomplice, where she focused on nurturing new writing talent. Both are newly-created roles.
Alongside the All3Media-backed indie’s Head of Development Ellie Birnie, the pair will focus on the growth of the company’s drama development and build on the scripted slate.
West Road was launched four years ago by Blood exec Jonathan Fisher and has since made Adrian Dunbar-starring Ridley for ITV, along with the same network’s Hollington Drive and Channel 5 thriller Penance.
Fisher said: “It’s very exciting to be welcoming two driven and ambitious creatives to the company in Leah and Sarah.
- 4/12/2023
- by Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
Drama
“Floodlights,” a feature-length single drama for BBC Two and BBC iPlayer tells the story of Andy Woodward, the former professional soccer player whose revelations about the sexual abuse he suffered as a youth player sent shockwaves throughout the industry. In 2016, Woodward went public about sexual abuse by his youth coach, Barry Bennell. After doing so, hundreds more men, many also victims of Bennell, found the courage to speak up about their experiences of abuse, lifting the lid on a national scandal in the U.K.’s most popular sport.
Gerard Kearns (“The Last Kingdom”) portrays Woodward and the cast also includes Jonas Armstrong (“Hollington Drive”), Morven Christie (“Lockwood & Co”) and Steve Edge (“Benidorm”).
“Floodlights,” made with the full cooperation of Woodward, is written by BAFTA-winning screenwriter, Matt Greenhalgh and directed by BAFTA-nominated Nick Rowland (“Calm With Horses”). It is produced by Expectation, part of BBC Studios’ portfolio of indies...
“Floodlights,” a feature-length single drama for BBC Two and BBC iPlayer tells the story of Andy Woodward, the former professional soccer player whose revelations about the sexual abuse he suffered as a youth player sent shockwaves throughout the industry. In 2016, Woodward went public about sexual abuse by his youth coach, Barry Bennell. After doing so, hundreds more men, many also victims of Bennell, found the courage to speak up about their experiences of abuse, lifting the lid on a national scandal in the U.K.’s most popular sport.
Gerard Kearns (“The Last Kingdom”) portrays Woodward and the cast also includes Jonas Armstrong (“Hollington Drive”), Morven Christie (“Lockwood & Co”) and Steve Edge (“Benidorm”).
“Floodlights,” made with the full cooperation of Woodward, is written by BAFTA-winning screenwriter, Matt Greenhalgh and directed by BAFTA-nominated Nick Rowland (“Calm With Horses”). It is produced by Expectation, part of BBC Studios’ portfolio of indies...
- 3/29/2022
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
Channel 4 has renewed the Lesley Sharp-fronted crime thriller “Before We Die” — an English adaptation of a Swedish series, produced by the team behind Walter Presents.
Sharp will return as detective Hannah Laing, who joins forces with maverick detective Billy Murdoch (Vincent Regan) in a desperate bid to protect her son Christian (Gibson). Season 2 won’t follow the same storyline as its Swedish counterpart, which aired in 2019, but will see Hannah pitched directly against Dubravka, played by Kazia Pelka, the matriarch at the head of the Mimica Croatian crime family.
The adaptation is produced by Eagle Eye Drama, which was formed in late 2019 by Walter Iuzzolino, Jo McGrath and Jason Thorp, the creative team behind the global drama company Walter Presents. Channel 4 has a minority stake in the outfit, which began as the international drama showcase for the broadcaster and has since grown into an international niche streamer.
Reflecting on the show,...
Sharp will return as detective Hannah Laing, who joins forces with maverick detective Billy Murdoch (Vincent Regan) in a desperate bid to protect her son Christian (Gibson). Season 2 won’t follow the same storyline as its Swedish counterpart, which aired in 2019, but will see Hannah pitched directly against Dubravka, played by Kazia Pelka, the matriarch at the head of the Mimica Croatian crime family.
The adaptation is produced by Eagle Eye Drama, which was formed in late 2019 by Walter Iuzzolino, Jo McGrath and Jason Thorp, the creative team behind the global drama company Walter Presents. Channel 4 has a minority stake in the outfit, which began as the international drama showcase for the broadcaster and has since grown into an international niche streamer.
Reflecting on the show,...
- 3/16/2022
- by Manori Ravindran
- Variety Film + TV
It’s the beginning of the end on A Discovery of Witches. In the TV adaptation’s third and final season, Diana and Matthew return to the present to face a personal tragedy and deep political division among the creatures. The forces of conservatism seek to preserve the separation between vampires, witches and daemons; while reformers wish to dismantle the status quo. Threats from the Book of Life, the Oxford blood-rage killer, the Congregation and Peter Knox all continue, while Diana comes into her prophesied role as the witch who will change everything.
Joining the existing characters in the ongoing battle are newcomers Fernando (Olivier Huband), Ransome (Parker Sawyers), Geraldine (Genesis Lynea), Dr Roberts (Ivanno Jeremiah), and actor Toby Regbo. Season three also welcomes Peter McDonald, who takes over the existing role of Baldwin St Clair from Trystan Gravelle. Find out more about them all below, with mild spoilers right at the end.
Joining the existing characters in the ongoing battle are newcomers Fernando (Olivier Huband), Ransome (Parker Sawyers), Geraldine (Genesis Lynea), Dr Roberts (Ivanno Jeremiah), and actor Toby Regbo. Season three also welcomes Peter McDonald, who takes over the existing role of Baldwin St Clair from Trystan Gravelle. Find out more about them all below, with mild spoilers right at the end.
- 1/5/2022
- by Louisa Mellor
- Den of Geek
Sundance Now and AMC+ are bringing another British crime thriller to U.S. audiences!
Hollington Drive is set to launch Thursday, November 18.
The series will unspool weekly, with the finale premiering Thursday, December 9.
"Hollington Drive focuses on the lives of two sisters, Theresa, and her older head teacher sibling, Helen," according to the official description.
"After Theresa’s ten-year-old son, Ben (Fraser Holmes), asks to play in the nearby park with his cousin Eva and the children don’t return on time, Theresa goes in search," the official description continues.
"Her suspicions are heightened when she finds the children on the edge of a woodland area, and they appear to be fighting. Immediately her instincts tell her something terrible has happened."
"This is all too realized when later that evening a distraught neighbor, Jean, learns her ten-year-old son Alex has gone missing."
"In a plot thick with secrets, lies, twists and turns,...
Hollington Drive is set to launch Thursday, November 18.
The series will unspool weekly, with the finale premiering Thursday, December 9.
"Hollington Drive focuses on the lives of two sisters, Theresa, and her older head teacher sibling, Helen," according to the official description.
"After Theresa’s ten-year-old son, Ben (Fraser Holmes), asks to play in the nearby park with his cousin Eva and the children don’t return on time, Theresa goes in search," the official description continues.
"Her suspicions are heightened when she finds the children on the edge of a woodland area, and they appear to be fighting. Immediately her instincts tell her something terrible has happened."
"This is all too realized when later that evening a distraught neighbor, Jean, learns her ten-year-old son Alex has gone missing."
"In a plot thick with secrets, lies, twists and turns,...
- 11/1/2021
- by Paul Dailly
- TVfanatic
Commission
ITV has commissioned West Road Pictures to produce “Ridley,” a new detective drama starring “Line of Duty” and “Blood” star Adrian Dunbar. The series is created and written by “Vera” lead writer Paul Matthew Thompson and West Road Pictures managing director Jonathan Fisher. They will executive produce the series.
“I couldn’t be happier to be getting started on ‘Ridley,’ as we continue to build the West Road production slate with our second commission for ITV,” said Fisher of the announcement. “ITV has a fine tradition of nurturing much-loved detective series, and it’s a real privilege to be bringing ‘Ridley’ to the channel.”
“Ridley” follows a detective inspector pushed into retirement from the force after 25 years investigating homicides. Convinced he is still in his prime, Ridley welcomes an invitation from his replacement and former protégé Carol Farman to aid her on a particularly complex case, eventually leading to more consulting jobs.
ITV has commissioned West Road Pictures to produce “Ridley,” a new detective drama starring “Line of Duty” and “Blood” star Adrian Dunbar. The series is created and written by “Vera” lead writer Paul Matthew Thompson and West Road Pictures managing director Jonathan Fisher. They will executive produce the series.
“I couldn’t be happier to be getting started on ‘Ridley,’ as we continue to build the West Road production slate with our second commission for ITV,” said Fisher of the announcement. “ITV has a fine tradition of nurturing much-loved detective series, and it’s a real privilege to be bringing ‘Ridley’ to the channel.”
“Ridley” follows a detective inspector pushed into retirement from the force after 25 years investigating homicides. Convinced he is still in his prime, Ridley welcomes an invitation from his replacement and former protégé Carol Farman to aid her on a particularly complex case, eventually leading to more consulting jobs.
- 6/2/2021
- by Jamie Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: Adrian Dunbar has become a household name in the UK thanks to his gruff performance as Superintendent Ted Hastings in hit BBC series Line Of Duty. Now, the Irish actor is turning his hand to another detective role — this time for ITV.
Dunbar will headline Ridley, a series in which he will play retiring Detective Inspector Alex Ridley, who is lured back into service as a consultant detective when his former protégée, Carol Farman, needs help cracking a complex murder case.
Penned by Vera and Father Brown writer Paul Matthew Thompson, ITV hopes Ridley can join the ranks of its detective icons, including Brenda Blethyn’s very own Vera Stanhope, David Jason’s A Touch of Frost, and John Thaw’s Inspector Morse.
Like some of these cherished dramas, Ridley’s episodes will play out over two-hour episodes, with All3Media-backed West Road Pictures making an initial season of four.
Dunbar will headline Ridley, a series in which he will play retiring Detective Inspector Alex Ridley, who is lured back into service as a consultant detective when his former protégée, Carol Farman, needs help cracking a complex murder case.
Penned by Vera and Father Brown writer Paul Matthew Thompson, ITV hopes Ridley can join the ranks of its detective icons, including Brenda Blethyn’s very own Vera Stanhope, David Jason’s A Touch of Frost, and John Thaw’s Inspector Morse.
Like some of these cherished dramas, Ridley’s episodes will play out over two-hour episodes, with All3Media-backed West Road Pictures making an initial season of four.
- 6/2/2021
- by Jake Kanter
- Deadline Film + TV
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