BBC Three has renewed its military dramedy series Bluestone 42 for a second season, set to air in 2014. The renewal comes as the series is pulling in big ratings for BBC Three, averaging nearly 2 million viewers per episode across various platforms. Six episodes have been ordered for the show’s second season.
Endemol Worldwide Distribution has picked up the international distribution rights to BBC One’s upcoming drama series The Ark. The six episode series is set to begin production later this year and Endemol will handle international sales outside of the UK.
Stephen Tompkinson (DCI Banks) has been cast as the lead in BBC One’s upcoming five episode dramedy series Truckers. Tompkinson has been cast as Malachi Davies, though exact character details are being kept under wraps. Production on the series is set to commence next month in Nottingham.
ITV has renewed its drama series Broadchurch for a second season, set to air in 2014. Details of the plotline for the show’s second season and which characters will return are being kept tightly under wraps.
EXCLUSIVE: ITV’s 1960s set medical drama series Breathless has added another actor to its already large cast. My sources tell me that Cathy Sara (The Crash) has joined the series in recurring role and will be appearing in at least four episodes. Created by Paul Unwin and Peter Grimsdale, Breathless is set in 1961, at a time when Britain was on the brink of the ‘60s revolution – abortion is illegal and the contraceptive pill is only just available to married women. Set in and around a busy Gynaecology unit in an NHS hospital, the drama series follows the lives of a group of doctors and nurses. Seemingly the normal workplace, under this veneer simmers a cauldron of lies, deceptions and guilty secrets, driven by love, ambition and sex. The series revolves around Otto Powell, a brilliant and charismatic surgeon, who passionately believes he can make a difference to women’s lives, even if that means risking imprisonment under the abortion laws of 1961. The drama series is being produced by ITV Studios and stars Jack Davenport (Smash), Iain Glen (Game of Thrones), Shaun Dingwall (Above Suspicion), Natasha Little (Kidnap and Ransom), Oliver Chris (Green Wing), Zoe Boyle (Sons of Anarchy), Joanna Page (The Syndicate), Catherine Steadman (The Tudors), Sarah Parish (Hatfields & McCoys), Ronny Jhutti (Vexed) and Pippa Haywood (Mr Selfridge).
BBC Two has ordered a new three-part factual series featuring The Hairy Bikers which is set to explore the industrial revolution.
ABC Family’s new drama series The Fosters will premiere on Monday June 3rd at 9/8c, it has been announced
ITV has ordered a fourth season of ITV’s drama series Vera, set to air in 2014. The series has been renewed for a further four episodes, with the renewal coming ahead of the show’s third season premiere this Summer.