Staring into the Hard Sun

While investigating what appears to be the routine death of a computer hacker in London, Charlie Hicks (Jim Sturgess) and Elaine Renko (Agyness Deyn) stumble upon proof that the world is facing certain destruction in just five years.

They soon find themselves being pursued by ruthless security service operatives who are willing to kill in order to keep the secret silent. That’s the high stakes premise of new BBC One and Hulu drama Hard Sun.

Rebecca Dundon, director of acquisitions for global content and scripted at distributor FremantleMedia International, says: “Hard Sun is a pre-apocalyptic crime thriller and the definition of ‘genre plus’. It is a primetime BBC One series that is richly peopled, epic in scale, and full of twists and turns that will be sure to keep viewers on the edge of their seats.”

Penned by Luther’s Neil Cross, the series has the quality you would expect from his pen, but is also unlike anything viewers have seen before, according to Dundon.

The 6x60mins series will be executive produced by Kate Harwood for FremantleMedia-owned Euston Films and the BBC’s Elizabeth Kilgarriff. Brian Kirk (Game of Thrones, Great Expectations) will act as lead director with Hugh Warren (Thirteen, Call the Midwife) producing the series.

The show will be heavily featured in FremantleMedia International’s MIPCOM campaign. The distributor is looking to target the show at a range of audiences.

Dundon adds: “Hard Sun is a premium series that will appeal to a number of international broadcasters and platforms who are looking for brand defining contemporary crime stories. We are looking for the best partners to represent the series worldwide.”

Fremantle, which has a slate also including The New Pope and Deutschland 86, will be shopping the show at MIPCOM.

The show: Hard Sun
The producer: Euston Films
The distributor: FremantleMedia International
The channel: BBC One (UK), Hulu (US)
The concept: Pre-apocalyptic crime thriller from Luther’s Neil Cross