Wolf Hall


Playground to adapt The Mermaid & Mrs Hancock

UK and US-based producer Playground has gained film and TV rights for Imogen Hermes Gowar’s best-selling novel The Mermaid & Mrs Hancock. The book, which was published earlier this year to rave reviews, is set in 1785 London and tells the story of Jonah Hancock, a prosperous merchant and widower, whose Captain returns having exchanged […]

The State creator Peter Kosminsky preps cyber drama for C4

The State (pictured), Wolf Hall and Britz creator Peter Kosminsky has teamed with Colin Callender’s Playground Entertainment to develop a new cyber warfare drama for Channel 4 (C4). The working title for the show is currently The Undeclared War. It reunites Kosminsky and Playground after their work together on Golden Globe-winning series Wolf Hall. Kosminsky is […]

Fifty Fathoms exec joins Playground in rejig

Fifty Fathoms’s head of development, Melissa Gallant, is joining Wolf Hall producer Playground Entertainment, which has restructured its UK team. Gallant has been named creative director at Playground, where she will work alongside Katie Draper, who has been promoted to the same position. At the same time, existing Playground creative director Sophie Gardiner (pictured) has […]

Starz joins BBC for Howard’s End

Starz has come on board the BBC adaptation of Howard’s End and the pair will coproduce the TV adaptation of the E.M. Forster novel. Starz will also sell the series internationally. The US premium cable net and the UK pubcaster have a history of working together, having teamed for Da Vinci’s Demons, Torchwood and The […]

Industry figures vocal in support for BBC, C4

Several actors and TV industry names used their BAFTA award acceptance speeches to register strong support for the BBC, just days before the publication of a government report on the future of the UK pubcaster. Wolf Hall pair Peter Kosminsky and Mark Rylance were the most vocal on a night when their period drama scooped […]

Playground developing refugee crisis drama

Drama producer Playground Entertainment has secured rights to The New Odyssey – The Story of Europe’s Refugee Crisis, which comes from journalist Patrick Kingsley. Transatlantic prodco Playground is developing the property into a “major new TV series” through its UK office after signing an option deal with Guardian News and Media. Kingsley was in 2015 […]

BBC Store debuts with ‘comprehensive’ offering

BBC Worldwide has today launched its download-to-own BBC Store, promising access to the “most comprehensive collection of BBC programmes ever collected”. The Store is a joint effort between the BBC’s commercial and public service arms, and is accessible both through the BBC’s iPlayer catch-up service and from a standalone website – with BBC Store mobile […]

Masterpiece deal gives Amazon UK drama

The extension of a deal with US broadcaster PBS has given Amazon US rights to a swathe of UK drama including Wolf Hall and Poldark. Amazon already has UK series from the Masterpiece strand including Downton Abbey and Mr Selfridge. The new, extended, deal gives Amazon Prime Instant Video subs the aforementioned BBC period series […]

BBC’s drama channel launching in Europe

BBC Worldwide is launching its drama channel BBC First in Europe for the first time, TBI understands. It will launch in the Netherlands next month and throughout the Benelux region soon after. First is programmed with high-end scripted programming from BBC Worldwide, the commercial arm of the UK pubcaster, and third-party UK drama. It has […]

Broadcasters get Banished

BBC Worldwide has sold drama series Banished to various broadcasters. Deals have been closed with VEO in Mexico, TVP1 in Poland, Cellcom in Israel, YLE in Finland and HRT in Croatia. It comes from Jimmy McGovern (The Street, Cracker) and follows people living in the first penal colony in Sydney, Australia. It scored well on […]