The Code


BBC in Deep Water with Australian drama deal

BBC Four has prebought Australian crime drama Deep Water. The four-parter launches on SBS as part of the Australian pubcaster’s autumn schedule and will launch on BBC Four later in the year. The show is loosely based on a crime wave that swept Sydney in 1980s and 1990s. It is produced by Australian indie Blackfella […]

Sony buys into new drama indie

Sony Pictures Television has acquired a minority stake in a new UK-based drama production company. SPT’s deal hands it distribution rights to high-end drama series hailing from Fable Pictures, which creative director Faye Ward and managing director Eugenio Perez. Ward was previously at Ruby Film and Television, in which UK broadcaster ITV owns a stake. […]

BBC buys Swedish drama

UK pubcaster the BBC has bought another foreign-language drama for BBC Four, picking up Swedish series Modus. The eight-part drama follows an FBI profiler Inger Johanne Vik as she returns to her native Sweden for family reasons. BBC Four continues to build on its reputation for acquiring the best in international drama with Modus; an […]

Fox orders two international formats

US network Fox has ordered US versions of UK-originated gameshow You’re Back in the Room, and is looking at a version of Australian drama series The Code (pictured). The US You’re Back in the Room will run to eight episodes on Fox, and go into production early next year. BBC Worldwide distributes the deal and […]

Beyond poaches ABC exec for drama drive

Producer and distributor Beyond has recruited David Ogilvy to run a new Australia-based scripted division. Ogilvy joins from the ABC where he was a drama commissioner. He has a long list of credits from his time at the Australian pubcaster including The Code (above), Rake, Anzac Girls, and The Straits. At the new Beyond division […]

Fox UK prebuys Aussie procedural

Pay TV channel Fox UK has prebought primetime drama Jack Irish from distributor DCD Rights. The 6x60mins show will officially launch at MIPCOM next month alongside other new DCD Australian drama titles such as Screentime-produced Janet King and season two of The Code. Fox plans to screen the series next year, which head of programming […]

News brief: More broadcasters unlock The Code

AMC Networks’ Sundance Channel has acquired Australian drama The Code for its channels in Asia and the Middle East. DCD Rights distributes the political thriller, which launched on ABC in Australia last September. Internationally, it has already been picked up by channels including Arte in France, BBC Four in the UK, DirecTV in the US […]

Sony acquires Code prodco Playmaker

Sony Pictures Television has acquired Australian drama producer Playmaker Media, which is behind series including House Husbands, Love Child and The Code. The deal, financial terms of which were not released, means Sony Corp.-owned SPT will now distribute Playmaker’s programming internationally. Formed in 2009 by producers David Taylor and David Maher, Playmaker has quickly established […]

B’casters unlock deals for Australian drama The Code

Arte has acquired Australian drama The Code for France and Germany. The series is distributed by DCD Rights, which has built a slate of premium Australian drama in recent years including Rake, The Slap and The Moody’s. Six-part thriller The Code is produced by Australian indie Playmaker Media. It has also been bought by RUV […]

DCD reassures investors after share price drop

UK indie DCD Media has moved to reassure shareholders that despite a big fall in its share price over recent months the group is trading in line with expectations. DCD’s share price stood at £3.70 (US$6.14) on May 30, but has today fallen to £1.60. This is slightly up from Wednesday (August 27), when it […]