Drama round-up: BBC lands Red Seam drama debut; BritBox & ITV land Quay Street mystery; Global Screen & Stillman prep ‘Splendid Affinities’

Michael Sheen & James Graham

BBC lands Red Seam drama debut

BBC One has ordered a drama written by James Graham (Sherwood) and directed by Michael Sheen (Good Omens) that marks the first drama to emerge from the latter’s Wales-based prodco Red Seam.

The Way has been co-created by Sheen, Graham and Adam Curtis (The Power Of Nightmares), with Bethan Jones (War & Peace) developing and executive producing.

It is being produced in association with Little Door Productions and imagines a civil uprising that begins in a small industrial town. The show will film in and around Port Talbot in Wales later this year, with ITV Studios selling globally.

BritBox & ITV land Quay Street mystery

ITV in the UK and BritBox International have picked up six-part mystery After the Flood, which is being produced by ITV Studios (ITVS)-owned Quay Street Productions.

The show is written by Mick Ford and will premiere in the UK on ITV1 and nascent streamer ITVX, with BritBox International – the ITVS and BBC Studios joint venture streamer – attached as co-production partner. The latter has taken rights in the US, Canada, Australia, South Africa and across Nordic markets.

After The Flood explores what happened to a man who is found dead in an underground car park’s lift who became trapped as the waters rose.

Quay Street founder Nicola Shindler and Richard Fee exec produce, with ITVS handling global sales.

Global Screen & Whit Stillman prep Splendid Affinities

Metropolitan director Whit Stillman has linked with Argentina, 1985 prodco Infinity Hill, Lauranne Bourrachot (Love & Friendship) and Germany’s Global Screen on a romantic comedy adventure series.

The Splendid Affinities will be set across multiple European locations and explores a fictional Baltic republic whose future is under threat, with the show tracking how its deposed leaders try to save it.

Stillman, who worked with Bourrachot on Love & Friendship, will produce alongside Infinity Hill’s Phin Glynn and Axel Kuschevatzky.

Global Screen is handling co-productions, pre-sales and distribution, with the show featuring as part of its slate at the Berlinale market, which starts Monday.

Stillman said: “A popular genre, always rare, has become rarer: adventure with humour and romance. Films and series in the genre often involve true, significant conflicts and a historical moment that provides intriguing storylines and high stakes. The world is again at such a crossroads, the time for adventure returned.”