Universal Channel is getting a brand refresh, which will include a new logo, on-air look and a tagline which reads “100% characters.” The new look Universal Channel will launch on August 5th in the UK & the Republic of Ireland with parent company Universal Networks International saying that this “evolution” highlights the channel’s newer and clearer focus on character driven entertainment.
Josh Hartnett (Black Hawk Down) and Eva Green (Casino Royale) have been cast in Showtime’s upcoming 8 episode drama series Penny Dreadful.
The BBC One/BBC America co-production Ripper Street is adding to its cast for its upcoming second season. David Costabile (Suits), Damien Molony (Being Human), Joseph Mawle (Game of Thrones, Birdsong) and Leanne Best have joined the cast of the series, which is currently in production in Dublin.
Showtime has handed a pilot order to Trending Down, a new comedy project from Shalom Auslander which is described as a blistering attack on our youth-obsessed culture, and a darkly comic examination of what it means to matter. Oscar winner Philip Seymour Hoffman and acclaimed actress Kathryn Hahn have been cast as the male and female leads; with Hoffman playing Thom Payne, and Hahn playing his wife Lee. Trending Down joins The Vatican and The Affair both of which received pilot orders at Showtime earlier this year.
EXCLUSIVE: ITV is adding another factual drama to its line up. I’ve learned that the commercial broadcaster has given the green-light to a two-part drama titled Lucan, about the life and subsequent disappearance of the well known British peer. Production on Lucan is set to commence on location in London in August.
EXCLUSIVE: With pilot season, the upfronts and the LA Screenings now behind us, numerous UK broadcasters are in various stages of acquiring next season’s new shows for their schedules (Sky Living just acquired The Blacklist from Sony Pictures Television and Channel 4 acquired Showtime’s Masters of Sex, again from Sony Pictures Television, while Disney Media Distributions’ Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. & CBS Studios International’s The Millers and We Are Men are also close to landing sales with UK broadcasters). While all eyes are on these new series and the various deals that are being hammered out, TVWise continues its extensive acquisitions coverage with our broadcaster-by-broadcaster breakdown of which current shows will be coming back later this year or early next.
The Amazon owned streaming service LOVEFiLM has closed a deal with Scripps Networks Interactive which will see a number of programmes from the Food Network and Travel Channel made available to UK subscribers of the OTT service.
Helen Baxendale (Cold Feet), Peter Davison (Law & Order: UK) and Michelle Ryan (Merlin) are amongst the many actors who have booked guest roles on the upcoming third season of BBC One’s crime drama series Death In Paradise, which is currently in production.