SVT bags major BBC Worldwide content deal

Swedish pubcaster SVT has scored a major programming deal with BBC Worldwide, TBI has learned.

The agreement is for more than 170 hours of programming and was described by an SVT source as “one of the biggest with BBCWW in recent years”.

Headline scripted programmes from the deal with the BBC’s commercial arm include fantasy adventure Atlantis, crime series What Remains and Cold War spy drama Legacy. SVT also gets new seasons of The Paradise, Call the Midwife, Death in Paradise and DCI Banks.

Karl Pilkington’s factual entertainment series The Moaning of Life is also included, along with BBC Three doc series’ The Call Centre and Junior Doctors.

On the factual front, SVT has bought science programming including Trust Me I’m a Doctor, Inside the Animal Mind and six episodes from the BBC’s Horizon strand. History-themed titles are Treasures Decoded and The Real White Queen and Her Rivals.

SVT also gets nature-themed shows such as Expedition Burma, Bill Bailey’s Jungle Hero and season two of CBBC series Steve Backshall’s Deadly 60.

The deal comes as BBC Four tonight launches SVT drama Don’t Ever Wipe Tears Without Gloves (fka Never Wipe Tears Without Gloves), a deal TBI first revealed in September.