Netflix orders three new UK dramas and details $6bn content investment

Bank Of Dave

Netflix has commissioned three new UK scripted series, while revealing that it will have invested around $6bn in the country by the end of 2023.

The streaming giant held an event in London last night, where it shared details of the upcoming series: Black Doves, Department Q and Bank Of Dave: The Sequel – a follow-up to the feature film Bank Of Dave.

Netflix said that it had spent around $1.5bn on TV and films out of the UK every year since 2020, with Netflix VP of content Anne Mensah commenting that the $6bn total was “an increase of nearly 50% on what we originally anticipated.”

UK prime minister Rishi Sunak praised Netflix’s investment in the country, which he said demonstrated “the sheer strength of our TV and film industry as the largest in Europe.” The Crown, Sex Education and Heartstopper are among the series produced for Netflix in the UK.

Detailing the three new commissions, Netflix revealed that Black Doves has been created and written by Joe Barton and will star Keira Knightley. Produced by Noisy Bear and Sister, the series tells the story of a woman who embarks on an affair that puts her carefully constructed web of lies at risk.

Department Q, meanwhile, hails from Left Bank Pictures and is an adaptation of the novels of the same name from Danish author Jussi Adler-Olsen. Adapted for TV by Chandni Lakhani and directed by Scott Frank, the eight-part series follows an Edinburgh detective investigating a cold case while dealing with the guilt following an attack that left another officer dead and his partner paralysed.

Tempo Productions and Future Artists is producing Bank of Dave: The Sequel, which continues the story from the Netflix feature film Bank of Dave and sees the titular character now taking on payday lenders.

News of the investment comes in the same week that Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos revealed plans to invest $2.5bn in South Korean content over the next four years as the streamer seeks to attract new subscribers from outside of the US.