Commissioning round-up: Netflix renews ‘The Sandman’; Discovery Finland plans another ‘Ultimate Escape’; ‘Couples Therapy’ lands in New Zealand

The Sandman

Netflix renews ‘The Sandman’

Netflix has renewed fantasy drama series The Sandman for a second season.

The series, based on the 1989-1995 comics by Neil Gaiman, who exec produces, tells the story of Morpheus, who rules the world of dreams.

The first season debuted on the streamer in August.

“There are some astonishing stories waiting for Morpheus & the rest of them… Now it’s time to get back to work. There’s a family meal ahead… And Lucifer is waiting for Morpheus to return to Hell,” commented Gaiman on announcement of the renewal.

Discovery Finland plans another ‘Ultimate Escape’

Discovery Networks Finland has ordered a second season of Ultimate Escape, the adventure reality series from Rabbit Films.

In Ultimate Escape, a host has 24 Hours, 24 Clues and 24 Calls to release a celebrity from a locked container at an unknown location. The series will be hosted once again by Jukka Hildén from The Dudesons, who will have to face extreme conditions and dangerous challenges in order to successfully complete his mission.

The second season will feature eight new celebrities, and will be filmed in diverse locations across the NATO frontier in Norway, Latvia, Estonia and Finland. The 9 x 60-minute series will be broadcast in 2023 on the Discovery+ VOD service and on Discovery Finland’s flagship linear channel TV5.

‘Couples Therapy’ lands in New Zealand

Warner Bros. Discovery’s New Zealand-based BVOD platform ThreeNow and linear channel Three has ordered a local version of Showtime docuseries Couples Therapy.

The original US version of the format follows psychologist and psychoanalyst Dr Orna Guralnik as she guides couples through struggles – and extraordinary breakthroughs – in real-life therapy sessions.

Couples Therapy New Zealand will be produced by Warner Bros. International Television Production NZ. The 10-part series is currently in casting and will launch early next year.

The format is distributed by Paramount Global Content Distribution.