Death in Paradise


BritBox orders ‘The Bay’ and acquires ‘Death In Paradise’

North American streamer BritBox is looking to “significantly expand” its programming with a new original drama, live events and shows such as Death In Paradise (pictured) being added to the BBC Studios and ITV-backed service. Crime drama The Bay, starring Grantchester‘s Morven Christie and Ripper Street‘s Jonas Armstrong, is about the intertwined lives of families […]

BBC First extends Dutch distribution

BBC Worldwide is upping the distribution of BBC First in the Netherlands after agreeing a deal with TV, internet and phone provider Caiway. The operator will carry the ‘best of British drama’ channel from June 15, and it will available to its 200,000 subscribers. The fully localised Dutch version of BBC First is already available […]

Lat Am SVOD service bags BBCWW series

Latin American SVOD service Qubit.tv has licensed a “significant” amount of content from the commercial arm of UK pubcaster the BBC. The deal means various BBC Worldwide-sold series will be made available on Qubit.tv subscribers in Argentina, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Paraguay and Uruguay. Life on Mars, Death in Paradise, Primeval, Wallander, Wild South America – […]

UK indie poaches C5 commissioner for reality push

UK-based drama producer Red Planet Pictures has recruited Channel 5 commissioner Simon Raikes to spearhead a push into unscripted. Red Planet was set up by veteran writer Tony Jordan in 2005 and its drama credits include BBC series Death in Paradise and The Ark. Raikes will be work up a slate of factual and fact-ent […]

BBC finds Stephenson drama replacement

Polly Hill has been appointed controller of drama commissioning at the BBC, replacing the outgoing Ben Stephenson at the UK pubcaster. Hill has been head of independent drama since 2011, ordering series including The Missing, The Honourable Woman, Death in Paradise and Poldark. She said: “Under Ben Stephenson’s leadership BBC Drama has thrived, it’s in […]

Buyers Briefing: Vanda Rapti, MTG

Name: Vanda Rapti Title: VP of acquisitions, pay TV, VOD and new media, and acting VP, free TV, Nordics, MTG Vanda Rapti buys programming for a variety of Modern Times Group channels across Europe. Here she takes TBI through the needs of the free, pay and VOD platforms operating under MTG’s Viasat broadcasting brand.   […]

BBCWW strikes Red Planet deal

BBC Worldwide has inked a development deal with Death in Paradise producer Red Planet Pictures. Worldwide, the commercial arm of the UK pubcaster the BBC, will provide development funding and marketing and support in return for an exclusive first-look at all Red Planet projects. “Red Planet Pictures has become synonymous with producing ratings-winning, ambitious and […]

BBC Worldwide’s Ben Donald launching drama indie

BBC Worldwide drama boss Ben Donald is launching Cosmopolitan Pictures, a new UK-based indie. The prodco will be partnership between Donald, Clerkenwell Films and Worldwide, the commercial arm of the UK public broadcaster. It will make scripted shows for the UK and international markets. Clerkenwell is the producer of UK-originated drama Misfits and will coproduce […]

SVT bags major BBC Worldwide content deal

Swedish pubcaster SVT has scored a major programming deal with BBC Worldwide, TBI has learned. The agreement is for more than 170 hours of programming and was described by an SVT source as “one of the biggest with BBCWW in recent years”. Headline scripted programmes from the deal with the BBC’s commercial arm include fantasy […]

UKTV’s Watch moves into original drama with Red Planet series

UKTV-owned pay channel Watch is getting its first original scripted drama, with scriptwriter Tony Jordan’s indie attached to create a 10-part supernatural thriller. Legion will tell the story of a criminologist on a global search for a cure for his 10 year-old daughter’s inoperable brain tumour who is forced to make a deal with the […]