Babylon 5 creator Joe Michael Straczynski – who has a new series titled Sense8 set up at OTT service Netflix – has let it be known that he wants his 1990s sci-fi series to return to television in the United States.
Despite the tragic passing of series star Lee Thompson Young, the opening episode of the fourth season of Rizzoli & Isles proved to be a hit with UK audiences. The season 4 premiere, which originally aired on the UKTV owned and operated Alibi channel on August 22nd, drew a consolidated audience of 582K viewers, building on the initial overnight audience of 288K viewers by 102%. That is considerably up on the slot average and represents year-to-year growth of 133K viewers or roughly 30% on the figures for the season 3 premiere (449K viewers). The figures for the season 4 premiere also represent a new series high for Alibi, ranking as the most watched episode of Rizzoli & Isles on Alibi since the series launched in 2011.
Universal Channel has closed a deal with Twentieth Century Fox Television Distribution to acquire the exclusive first run UK broadcast rights to USA Network’s Graceland, TVWise has confirmed. The series, which has yet to be officially picked up for a second season, is expected to premiere on Universal Channel later this year.
The BBC has released a new trailer for the season of upcoming dramas on BBC One as part of their Autumn/Winter line up.
EXCLUSIVE: As expected, a number of high profile acquisitions were announced at the Edinburgh International TV Festival. Those deals included Channel 4’s acquisition of Hostages and Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.; E4’s acquisition of The 100 and The Tomorrow People; ITV2’s acquisition of the CBS comedy series Mom and Channel 5’s acquisition of the soapy ABC drama Betrayal. All of which followed on from Sky Living’s acquisition of red hot NBC/SPT drama series The Blacklist. All told 7 of the 55 new shows from the upcoming 2013-2014 season have been sold to UK broadcasters representing a sell through rate of just under 13%. There is still an expectation of stronger sales this year compared to last season, but the deals seem to be taking longer than usual to wrap up. There are a number of deals which are close to being finalised, including Comedy Central UK’s acquisition of The Millers and We Are Men and I hear there has been a bidding war over the UK rights to the Robin Williams and Sarah Michelle Gellar starring The Crazy Ones (The Michael J Fox Show is another one that seems certain to score a UK pick up, though I have no specific intel on that front). The latest industry rumour is that both Channel 4 and ITV are still in the market for a number of comedies; Universal Channel is apparently still after at least one drama and, according to one source, FOX UK is also looking at picking up one new network series. A slew of deals is expected to be announced by the time of MIPCOM 2013. But in the mean time which series are looking good for UK pick ups? TVWise presents its latest rundown of industry intel (buzz, if you will), from various sources, on which new series are being eyed for a UK pick up – specifically on Fox’s Almost Human, Brooklyn Nine-Nine and Sleepy Hollow & ABC’s Killer Women.
EXCLUSIVE: ITV’s upcoming two part drama Lucan has added a trio of actors to its cast. I’ve learned that Leanne Best (Ripper Street), Miles Richardson (Dancing On The Edge) and Glyn Grimstead (Fleming) have joined the cast of the ITV Studios produced drama. Based on the book The Gamblers and penned by ITV Studios’ Jeff Pope, Lucan tells the story of Lucan’s exploits as a member of the infamous Clermont set and will focus on the collapse of his marriage to Veronica, the Countess of Lucan. With his marriage disintegrating, Lucan became obsessed with regaining custody of his children. Ultimately the drama will reveal what happened on that fateful night in November 1974 when his children’s nanny, Sandra Rivett, was cruelly bludgeoned to death in the basement of the family’s home in London’s Lower Belgrave Street as she made her way to the kitchen to make a cup of tea. The two-parter is being produced by ITV Studios & GroupM Entertainment and stars Rory Kinnear (Skyfall), Christopher Eccleston (Doctor Who) and Michael Gambon (Harry Potter). Angus Wright (Murder On The Home Front), Alistair Petrie (Sherlock), Julian Firth (Secret State) and Michael Gould (The Bletchley Circle) have also landed roles on the drama.
A&E has cancelled their drama series The Glades, which was the first scripted series to become a success on the network, after airing four seasons of the Matt Passmore fronted procedural.
Brian Cox (The Bourne Supremacy), Chloe Pirrie (Black Mirror), Paul Ritter (Quantum Of Solace), Jonathan Aris (Sherlock) and Judy Parfitt (Call The Midwife) have joined the cast of BBC One’s upcoming drama Series The Game. Their casting comes after TVWise previously broke the news that the cast would be led by Silk alum Tom Hughes, with Shaun Dooley (Misfits) and Victoria Hamilton (Lark Rise To Candleford) also set to appear in regular roles. Rachael Stirling (The Bletchley Circle) and Georgina Rich (Sherlock) are also set to appear in the series.