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At the center of Whitstable Pearl is Pearl Nolan, a determined restaurant owner who has become an amateur detective. Her cases take place in the charming English coastal town of Whitstable. This setting embodies a microcosm of modern societal dynamics, where personal ties and community histories entwine.

As she navigates the complexities of her relationships with the locals, including the mysterious Dci Mike McGuire, Pearl’s character serves as a vehicle for exploring themes of resilience and strength. To reflect the shifting waves of cultural norms and social interactions within a close-knit community, the series skillfully uses its coastal setting not only to enhance its narrative charm.

As Season 3 goes on, the show adds to the rich tapestry of its predecessors by introducing new mysteries that resonate with contemporary societal problems like identity, loss, and the intricacies of family ties. As Pearl grapples with her son Charlie’s sudden absence...

AMC Networks streaming service Acorn TV today revealed the official trailer for season two of the hit mystery drama Darby and Joan, starring Emmy-nominees Bryan Brown and Greta Scacchi. The new season debuts with a two-episode premiere on Acorn TV on December 30, followed by weekly episodes through January 27.

A year after their lives collided on an outback road, retired Australian detective Jack Darby (Brown) and English widowed nurse Joan Kirkhope (Scacchi) have forged a deep friendship amid shared investigative adventures. But Jack’s story has only just begun – he’s determined to clear his name of the unexplained cloud hanging over his career.

Despite the potential danger – or perhaps because of it – Joan insists on helping Jack with his quest. As they travel through Queensland’s picturesque landscapes solving mysteries along the way, Jack and Joan’s relationship with be tested. An escapist adventure where a new mystery awaits around every bend in the road,...

The quaint seaside town of Whitstable, usually more associated with oysters than assassinations, finds itself at the center of a double dose of deadly drama in the season three finale of Whitstable Pearl. Forget gentle waves and charming pubs; “Someone Like Me” serves up a murder and a near-miss that would make Agatha Christie reach […]

Whitstable Pearl “Someone Like Me”...

There has been plenty of fat to chew on this week at MIPCOM in Cannes. The television industry is clearing a path forwards after a very difficult few years, and that route became clearer during the four-day confab. Below, we identify some of the key takeaways from the Croisette.

Squeezed Middle In Scripted

Channing Dungey

Conversations about the future of TV drama almost a year after the U.S. strikes ended dominated chatter at this year’s MIPCOM. What was being communicated to us was an extension of the ‘squeezed middle’ chat that dominated conversation in Edinburgh a few weeks ago. That confab’s chatter was focused on non-scripted, but these proclamations were concentrated on drama. Effectively, buyers are still looking for the odd splashy tentpole, maybe a buzzy limited series here and there, but are mainly beefing up catalogs with cheaper, higher-volume, bankable and returnable fare.

Our Deadline Hot...

The AMC Networks November 2024 schedule includes the season finale of The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon – The Book of Carol and the premiere of Acorn TV’s new original detective series Inspector Ellis, starring Olivier Award-winner and Tony Award-nominee Sharon D Clarke.

The month also features new film premieres, including AMC+ deep-sea thriller The Last Breath, Allblk original rom-com The Contract, and Sundance Now’s true crime documentary Dickweed on Legalization Day, among other new series, films, and specials.

The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon – The Book of Carol

Shudder’s “Season of Screams” lineup continues with the debut of the series The Creep Tapes, based on the cult films Creep and Creep 2, from writers and executive producers Mark Duplass and Patrick Brice.

The schedule includes new films, such as Doc of Chucky, an in-depth look at an iconic franchise; the Nick Frost-led Black Cab; dark orphanage tale Rita,...

Acorn TV has announced the titles that will be available on the AMC-owned streaming service in November 2024. The Acorn TV November 2024 slate adds to the service’s various acclaimed English and foreign-language dramas, engaging comedies, documentaries, and more.

The November schedule includes Acorn TV Originals Inspector Ellis and Whitstable Pearl Season 3, Acorn TV/Sundance Now co-premiere The Midwich Cuckoos: Village of the Damned, Acorn TV exclusive Maternal, and more.

Inspector Ellis Acorn TV November 2024 Highlights

Inspector Ellis (Acorn TV Original Series) – New Series Premieres Monday, November 4

Each 90-minute episode will see Ellis accompanied by her right-hand man DS Harper, played by Andrew Gower, arrive at a different local police station, where she will have to win over the local detectives and immerse herself in the cases she’s come to solve.

As a Black female cop, Ellis is used to being dismissed and overlooked but remains focused on her...

The British crime series “Whitstable Pearl” has signed deals to expand its international distribution, bringing the show to viewers around the world. Produced for AMC Networks’ streaming service Acorn TV, the drama stars Kerry Godliman as Pearl Nolan, a restaurant owner who moonlights as an amateur sleuth in the English coastal town of Whitstable.

Already popular in Europe, the third season has been licensed to public broadcasters in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and beyond. In addition, BBC Worldwide purchased rights to air the program on its channels in Asia and Benelux countries. The U.S.-based NBCUniversal acquired rights for its pan-African television networks.

Outside of Europe, Canadian media company Corus Entertainment secured all three seasons for its French-language drama channel SériesPlus. Elsewhere, Warner Bros. Discovery and Italy’s Nhk Japan obtained rights to the first and second seasons, respectively.

The widening worldwide reach shows ongoing strong demand for “cozy crime” shows,...

Exclusive: Cozy crime is hot and viewers in Canada, Scandinavia and Japan can get a fresh hit after Cineflix scored new international deals for Whitstable Pearl.

Based on the popular Julie Wassmer novels, the series stars Kerry Godliman (After Life) as Pearl Nolan. She divides her time between serving up seafood in her restaurant in the English seaside town of the title, and solving the crimes and murder brought in by the tide. Howard Charles (The Musketeers) is a cop, Mike McGuire, and her on-off rival and love interest.

The series is from Marcella producer Buccaneer and for AMC Networks’ Acorn TV, which has greenlit three seasons thus far. Cineflix Rights handles sales. Corus in Canada has now bought all three seasons, Warner Bros. Discovery has season 1. Nhk in Japan has snagged season 2.

Svt in Sweden, Nrk in Norway, Dr and TV2 in Denmark have all bought season 3, as has...

Cineflix Rights has closed several deals for “Irvine Welsh’s Crime,” starring Dougray Scott in his International Emmy award-winning lead role.

The series has been acquired by Telefonica’s pay TV platform Movistar Plus+ (Spain), Sbs (Australia), Rte (Ireland), Blue Entertainment (Switzerland), and Canal+ for viewers in Luxembourg, Hungary, Romania, Czech Republic, Slovakia and the Netherlands.

“Irvine Welsh’s Crime” was commissioned by Itvx and BritBox in the U.K.

The show follows Detective Inspector Ray Lennox (Scott), a man engaged in his own disturbing battle while undertaking serious crime investigations in a city on the edge of the abyss.

The series, adapted by “Trainspotting” author Welsh from his own novel, also stars John Simm, Joanna Vanderham, Angela Griffin, Ken Stott, and Jamie Sives.

Tim Mutimer, CEO of Cineflix Rights, said: “The combination of Irvine Welsh’s own adaptation of his best-selling novels, together with Dougray Scott’s powerful, award-winning performance has...

BBC Studios Pounces On ‘Big Cats 24/7’ Sales

BBC Studios and PBS’s upcoming natural history show Big Cats 24/7 has landed a host of pre-buyers ahead of MIPCOM Cannes. In China, Bilibili, iQiyi, Tencent, Youku and linear channel CCTV World Geography have bought the BBC Studios Natural History Unit-produced show, along with Yle (Finland), France Televisions (France), Sky Deutschland (Germany) and Movistar Plus+ (Spain). The show will also be available on the BBC Earth channel in Albania, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Kosovo, Romania, Malta, Macedonia, Montenegro, Poland, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa and Turkey. In Asia, it will be on BBC Earth and SVOD service BBC Player in Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan. The six-part series follows the lives of lions, cheetahs and leopards in the Okavango Delta, Botswana, a place described as one of Africa’s last wildernesses. BBC Studios is heading to Cannes with...

Acorn TV’s popular mystery-crime drama Whitstable Pearl is set to return on October 21 with new episodes across the US, Canada, UK, Australia, and New Zealand. Based on Julie Wassmer’s The Whitstable Pearl Mysteries novels, the show continues to follow Pearl Nolan, played by Kerry Godliman, as she tackles murder investigations in the charming seaside […]

Whitstable Pearl Season 3 Returns to Acorn TV with New Episodes on October 21...

Acorn TV’s fan-favorite crime drama Whitstable Pearl returns with all-new episodes on Monday, October 21, in the US, Canada, UK (including Northern Ireland), Australia, and New Zealand. Additional episodes of the six-episode Acorn TV Original series will drop weekly on Mondays.

Based on the beloved novels The Whitstable Pearl Mysteries by Julie Wassmer, Season 3 sees the return of Kerry Godliman (After Life) in the lead role of Pearl Nolan and Howard Charles (Top Boy) as Detective Chief Inspector (Dci) Mike McGuire.

The other returning cast members include Frances Barber (The Chelsea Detective) as Dolly, Robert Webb (Peep Show) as Tom Grant, Isobelle Molloy (EastEnders) as Ruby Williams, and Sophia Del Pizzo (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia) as Detective Sergeant (DS) Nikki Martel.

In Whitstable Pearl, sleuthing restaurant owner Pearl (Godliman) continues to build her private detective business and finds herself involved in more diverse investigations, including reopening an infamous local...

The AMC Networks October 2024 schedule delivers the thrills and chills with a monster lineup of streaming programming, including new episodes of The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon – The Book of Carol and the Acorn TV/Sundance Now debut of limited series adaptation The Midwich Cuckoos: Village of the Damned, and

The month also features new seasons of Allblk’s supernatural drama Wicked City, Hidive’s popular fantasy franchise DanMachi—Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?, and Acorn TV’s beloved detective drama Whitstable Pearl.

The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon – The Book of Carol

All month long, AMC+ offers its “FearFest” collection of iconic horror classics, including the Halloween franchise (10 films), Friday the 13th franchise (all 8 films), Children of the Corn (original and remake), Night of the Living Dead (original and remake), Child’s Play (original and remake), the Stephen King library, and more.

Horror...

Acorn TV has announced the titles that will be available on the AMC-owned streaming service in October 2024. The Acorn TV October 2024 slate adds to the service’s various acclaimed English and foreign-language dramas, engaging comedies, documentaries, and more.

The October schedule includes Whitstable Pearl Season 3, Candice Renoir specials, and The Midwich Cuckoos: Village of the Damned.

Acorn TV October 2024 Highlights

Whitstable Pearl Season 3 (Acorn TV Original Series) – New Season Premieres on Monday, October 21

The Whitstable Pearl is thriving, and so is Pearl’s detective sideline. After a short hiatus, Dci Mike McGuire returns to Whitstable, reenergized, and determined to make progress in his quest for self-healing.

He and Pearl continue to make a formidable team as they work through various cases together – Pearl never needs Mike’s help as much as he needs hers! As cracks start to show in Pearl and Tom’s relationship, and Mike finally comes...

The coastal-set crime drama ‘Whitstable Pearl’ returns to U with Kerry Godliman reprising her role as the titular character, a Whitstable-born-and-bred aspiring private detective. The second series debuts on Tuesday, 16 July 2024, with a free-to-air premiere on U&Drama scheduled for Thursday, 25 July 2024. The second series picks up where the last season left […]

Whitstable Pearl – Series 2: UK Premiere 16 July on U...

To celebrate the release of Whitstable Pearl Series 2 on DVD from 24th March, we are giving away DVDs to 3 lucky winners!

Return to the stunning Kent coast for another dose of seaside suspense in Whitstable Pearl Series 2, which sees the brilliant Kerry Godliman reprise her role as the eponymous Pearl, a restaurateur turned private detective. The series sees the return of familiar faces Frances Barber and Howard Charles and introduces a new character played by TV favourite Robert Webb (Peep Show).

Set in the picturesque 16th century English seaside resort of Whitstable, one of Kent’s most stunning coastal towns famous for its native oysters, the enthralling mystery series, based on acclaimed author Julie Wassmer’s (EastEnders) popular novels The Whitstable Pearl Mystery and Disappearance at Oare is brought to life by iconic Norwegian filmmaker Øystein Karlsen.

Series two sees the big-hearted Pearl Nolan (Godliman) continue to juggle her impeccable...

Whitstable Pearl is returning for a third season. Acorn TV has renewed the British crime drama based on the mystery novels by Julie Wassmer. Season two was released in November 2022 on the streaming service.

Starring Kerry Godliman, Frances Barber, Rohan Nedd, Robert Webb, and Emily Head, the series follows a private detective and single mother of a grown son, Pearl Nolan (Godliman). She and her widowed mother (Barber) run the Whitstable Pearl, a seafood restaurant in their coastal town. After a friend dies under suspicious circumstances, Pearl butts heads with the new detective in town, gruff Mike McGuire (Charles).Read More…...

Exclusive: Whitstable Pearl has been greenlit for a third season by AMC streaming platform Acorn.

The British crime drama stars After Life‘s Kerry Godliman in the lead role and is based on the mystery novels by Julie Wassmer.

In Season 3 of the show from Crime producer Buccaneer, Godliman returns to build her private detective business, finding herself involved in more diverse investigations, including reopening an infamous local cold case and the death of a famous food critic. She’s aided and abetted by her outspoken, feisty mum Dolly and still going strong with boyfriend Tom, but it’s navigating her complex relationship with Dci Mike McGuire that still proves Pearl’s most challenging case

Howard Charles returns as Dci Mike McGuire and other returning cast members include Frances Barber as Dolly, Robert Webb as Tom Grant, Isobelle Molloy as Ruby Williams and Sophia del Pizzo as DS Nikki Martel.

Exclusive: Acorn TV is going Under the Vines for a third time.

The lighthearted comedy shot in New Zealand is returning for a third season with leads Rebecca Gibney (Wanted, Packed to the Rafters, Halifax: Retribution) and Charles Edwards (Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, The Crown, Downton Abbey) again attached. You can see a start-of-production shot above.

Also returning are Charles Edwards, Sarah Peirse, John Bach, Trae Te Wiki and Simon Mead.

Synopsis reads: “It’s been a tumultuous six months since we last saw our Oakley family, and much is afoot. Desperate to regain their former standing as the ‘sole’ mutual heirs of Oakley, Daisy and Louis will need to work together to try and oust William in any way they can.”

Erin White is directing Episodes 1-3, with Laurence Wilson on Episodes 4-6. Kelly Lefever, Erin White, Nick Ward, Kathryn Burnett, Harry McNaughton, and Steph Matuku are the writers

Gibney,...

National Children’s radio station Fun Kids is introducing listeners to Badger – a plucky pooch who becomes a war hero.

This heart-warming children’s radio drama, based on real events in WW2 is narrated by comedian and actor Kerry Godliman and will be heard every Friday at 4.30pm from 28th April 2023, as well as being available as a podcast.

The story is one of a boy’s life and survival in a war-torn Britain - alongside a four-legged friend who never loses hope.

Following the death of his mother, Jack latches on to an abandoned puppy brought home by his fireman father. He names her Badger; and the two become inseparable.

Caught in an air raid they seek shelter, leading to a chance encounter with former blues singer, Josie Deprice. With Badger in tow, the pair go in search of a Duchess – a real-life aristocrat with a mission: to save Britain’s pets.

Alex Wolff has been cast as legendary singer Leonard Cohen in So Long, Marianne, the Nrk drama series we first revealed last year.

Thea Sofie Loch Næss will play Canadian musician Cohen’s muse Marianne Ihlen. Anna Torv has also been cast Charmian Clift and Noah Taylor is George Johnston.

Wolff appeared opposite Joachim Phoenix in indie flick Pig and has been cast in Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer. Before that, he reteams with Pig filmmaker Michael Sarnoski on Paramount Pictures’ A Quiet Place: Day One alongside Lupita Nyong’o in 2024.

In further developments, Canadian streamer Crave has boarded So Long, Marianne, which began principal photography on March 24 and is shooting in multiple locations including the Greek island of Hydra, Oslo in Norway,...

Whitstable Pearl is returning soon to Acorn TV. The streaming service has announced a premiere date for season two of the mystery series. Kerry Godliman, Frances Barber, Rohan Nedd, Robert Webb, and Emily Head star in the series, which follows Pearl Nolan, a restaurant owner who has a knack for investigations. There will be six episodes once again. Read More…...

To mark the release of the second series of Whitstable Pearl on 28th November, we’ve been given a DVD copy of Whitstable Pearl Series One to give away for 1 winner.

We meet big-hearted local celebrity Pearl Nolan (Kerry Godliman), who runs the eponymous Whitstable Pearl restaurant, but her real passion lies in detective work, after her police career was suddenly cut short many years before. When Pearl discovers the body of close family friend, Vinnie, she’s convinced it was foul play and following her instincts, she embarks on her own murder investigation. Then a second body turns up and she finds herself embroiled in the dark underbelly of this picturesque town…

Teaming up with new arrival Dci Mike McGuire (Howard Charles), Pearl is soon putting her distant police-training to good use and decides now is the time to set up her own detective agency. The world is her oyster.

Appointments

Gabriella Carriere has joined Fremantle as group head of strategy, reporting into Andrea Scrosati, group COO and CEO continental Europe. Carriere joins from Sky Italia where she held the positions of Sky Wifi marketing senior director, media and commercial partnerships director and strategy director since joining in 2016. She replaces Van Truong, who held the position for five years and is now head of special projects, reporting into Scrosati and working closely with CEO Jennifer Mullin and the rest of the leadership team.

Scrosati said: “Gabriella is an exceptional talent. I had the great opportunity to work with her in the past and she always struck me for her unique analytical and business skills and understanding of the media market. Her experience and innovative approach will help us continue to define a strategy that will be key to Fremantle’s very ambitious global growth plans.

Carriere added: ““Fremantle is home...

Cineflix Rights Goes On Scripted Sales Spree

UK-based Cineflix Rights has unveiled a batch of scripted library series sales. Mx Player in India and Filmin (Spain) have acquired seasons one and two of Israeli police corruption thriller Manayek, which was originally for Yoav Gross Productions for Kan 11 Network, Israel). Mx Player has also bought the Syfy and Sci-Fi Channel Canada supernatural drama Wynonna Earp. Israel’s Hot is a buyer of dark comedy crime caper Happily Married and Icelandic political drama The Minister. Elsewhere, Talpa Network (Netherlands), Sky Italia and Rai (Italy) have acquired the latest season of CBC drama Coroner, while Acorn TV (India), Sky Italia, and BritBox (Africa) have bought Whitstable Pearl. Ireland’s TG4 has acquired French crime drama Rebecca, while Scotland’s Stv took UK and Ireland rights to Australian suburban psychological thriller Secrets and Lies.

‘Sas: Who Dares Wins’ Put Through Paces On Finnish Streamer...

Exclusive: Acorn TV has commissioned a second series of UK crime drama Whitstable Pearl and the show has been sold by distributor Cineflix Rights to a wealth of international buyers.

Based on Julie Wassmer’s Whitstable Pearl Mysteries, Buccaneer Media’s show features After Life’s Kerry Godliman and Shadow and Bone’s Howard Charles as two locals solving crimes in the picturesque seaside town.

Season two will see celebrity chef Nolan prioritize her detective work and transition from being a chef who solves crimes to a full time investigator who just happens to own a restaurant.

Production will begin on the second six-part series in Whitstable, UK in February, with the show airing on Acorn in North America, New Zealand, Australia and the UK.

Distributor Cineflix has secured pre-sales for the second series in the Nordic region and sold the first to Sky Italia, Nhk Japan, BBC Worldwide (Benelux...

Apple TV users and Amazon Prime members will be able to access the AMC Networks slate via a new premium streaming bundle launched today.

Available for $8.99 per month, AMC+ features original series, such as revenge thriller The Beast Must Die, starring Jared Harris, stop-motion animated comedy Ultra City Smiths, as well as the upcoming dystopian drama Anna and Warwick Thornton and Brendan Fletcher’s vampire thriller Firebite starring Yael Stone, Rob Collins and Callan Mulvey.

The service also offers full access to AMC Networks’ streaming services, Acorn TV and Shudder, at no additional cost.

Acorn TV houses Midsomer Murders, Agatha Christie’s Marple and Poirot, as well as originals Agatha Raisin, London Kills, Ms Fisher’s Modern Murder Mysteries, Queens of Mystery and My Life Is Murder, and new shows Dalgliesh and Whitstable Pearl, among others.

Shudder offers genre entertainment, covering horror, thrillers, and the supernatural. Popular series include Creepshow,...

Channel 4 drama “Help,” starring Jodie Comer and Stephen Graham, has been picked up by Acorn TV for the U.S., Variety can reveal.

The critically acclaimed single drama, written by “His Dark Materials” and “Enola Holmes” writer Jack Thorne, will premiere on the service in the U.S. and Canada in early 2022.

“Help” is a searing commentary on the U.K. government’s response to care homes during the worst of the country’s Covid-19 crisis in 2020. Comer plays a new nurse at a care facility, where Graham’s character Tony is a patient with early onset Alzheimer’s.

When the pandemic hits, the home is bereft of personal protective equipment (PPE) for staff, and overloaded with ill patients from hospitals without any available beds. What unravels is an oftentimes infuriating examination of the under-funded care sector and the people who fall between the cracks.

The drama, produced by “The Virtues” producer The Forge,...

Exclusive: AMC Networks is bringing together its international programming group across its linear cable networks and streaming services in a bid to find its next global hit.

The company has expanded the scope and focus of the group, which will be led by Kristin Jones, as it searches for follow-up shows to the likes of A Discovery of Witches, Humans and The Night Manager.

Jones, who has been at AMC Networks since 2014 and is EVP, International Programming, will oversee the group searching for global commissions, co-productions and acquisitions, across its linear networks AMC, BBC America, IFC and Sundance TV and streaming services Acorn TV, Sundance Now and the newly launched AMC+.

Other global shows include McMafia, State of the Union, Top of the Lake and Riviera as well as Gangs of London and The Salisbury Poisonings.

Jones’ team now includes Catherine Mackin, Don Klees, Shannon Cooper and Noel Manzano.

Former...

British actor Emilia Fox (“Silent Witness”) is set to star as a disillusioned U.K. spy who becomes a sleuth in Italy in “Signora Volpe,” a detective drama commissioned by AMC Networks’ Acorn TV that will start shooting in Italy in May.

The show comprising three 90-minute installments is being produced by ITV Studios-backed production company Route 24, with Italy’s ITV-owned Cattleya providing the Italian production service.

“Signora Volpe” is created and written by Rachel Cuperman and Sally Griffiths (“Midsomer Murders) who are also its executive producers. Emilia Fox will play the lead named Sylvia who after years as an M16 operative winds up in a village in Umbria to visit her sister Isabel played by Tara Fitzgerald (“Game of Thrones”) and there becomes involved in a murder investigation.

As she starts her new life in Italy, Sylvia finds that trouble follows her wherever she goes. Motivated by her passion for justice,...

Made by “Marcella” producer Buccaneer Media as an original for AMC’s BritBox rival Acorn TV, “Whitstable Pearl” has all the ingredients of a travel-friendly crime series with a female lead in a picturesque English town.

And while the six part, 45-minute series slots in neatly with the streamer’s other small town crime canon, including Cotswold’s based “Agatha Raisin” and “Queens of Mystery,” Buccaneer execs Tony Wood and Anna Burns were keen to give the seaside town of Whitstable a Scandinavian edge.

Enter Norwegian filmmaker Øystein Karlsen, whose writing/directing credits include hit dark comedy dramas “Dag,” “Exit” and “Lilyhammer,” who was duly drafted in to adapt Julie Wassmer’s series of seaside mystery novels.

Karlsen’s vision for the show, based on Wassmer’s stories, he says, was “a whodunit served on a bed of warm interpersonal drama sprinkled with black humor.”

The series will premiere on...

Exclusive: AMC Networks streamer Acorn TV has found its latest British crime series in the shape of Adrian Scarborough starrer The Chelsea Detective, which is created and co-written by Peter Fincham, the man who originally greenlit Downton Abbey for ITV.

Scarborough, a prolific English actor who has starred in Killing Eve, Gavin & Stacey, 1917, and A Very English Scandal, will take on the title role of Detective Inspector Max Arnold, who plies his trade in Chelsea, uncovering the murky underbelly of a well-heeled borough of London.

The Chelsea Detective will be co-produced by German public broadcaster Zdf, with BBC Studios-backed Expectation making the series, which consists of four feature-length episodes, each focusing on a different case.

Expectation co-founder Fincham, who was director of television at ITV during the time that Downton Abbey became a global phenomenon, created the drama. He writes an episode, while Glen Laker (Vera) and Liz Lake...

Exclusive: Hans Rosenfeldt, the formidable Swedish screenwriter behind The Bridge and Marcella, has found his next project: Adapting Cj Tudor’s new bestselling novel The Burning Girls into a TV series.

Rosenfeldt will work with Marcella producer Buccaneer Media to adapt the book after the production company secured the rights in a competitive situation. Tudor’s story became a Sunday Times bestseller after it was published in January.

The book follows Reverend Jack Brooks and her daughter as they make a fresh start in Chapel Croft, but soon the close-knit community’s dark history begins to reveal itself. Some 500 years ago, eight martyrs were burnt to death in Chapel Croft; 30 years ago two teenagers vanished without trace; and two months ago, the vicar committed suicide.

Jack must tread carefully. Ancient superstitions as well as a mistrust of outsiders will be hard to overcome. Yet right away, Jack has more frightening concerns,...

Exclusive: Howard Charles, star of Amazon’s The Widow and BBC’s The Musketeers, has joined the cast of Top Boy for its second season on Netflix.

Deadline hears that Charles will feature as Curtis throughout the season in a subplot involving a Liverpool gang. Top Boy is currently shooting in the UK after its original 2020 production schedule was derailed by the coronavirus pandemic.

The gritty urban drama is created and written by Ronan Bennett, with Cowboy Films producing. The second season is actually the fourth season, given the show first launched on Channel 4 in 2011.

Charles will next feature in Netflix’s Shadow And Bone, which premieres April 23, while he has recently been filming Acorn TV’s British-made crime drama, Whitstable Pearl, which is based on the novels of Julie Wassmer. He is a co-lead in the latter alongside After Life actress Kerry Godliman.

Charles’ other credits include ITV...

Exclusive: Howard Charles, star of Amazon’s The Widow and CBS’s The Red Line, has been cast as the co-lead in Acorn TV’s British-made crime drama Whitstable Pearl.

Charles, who will next feature in Netflix’s Shadow And Bone, will star alongside After Life actress Kerry Godliman in the six-part Buccaneer Media adaptation of Julie Wassmer’s The Whitstable Pearl Mystery novels.

The series follows big-hearted restaurant owner Pearl Nolan (Godliman) who sets up a local detective agency in the English seaside town of Whitstable after undergoing police training in an earlier career.

Pearl forms an unlikely partnership with Dci Mike McGuire, a new local police chief who has transferred from London to escape his past. Charles plays McGuire.

Whitstable Pearl is adapted by Norwegian filmmaker Øystein Karlsen and production is underway in Whitstable. Executive producers are Tony Wood, Anna Burns, Richard Tulk-Hart and Nadia Jaynes for Buccaneer,...

Exclusive: AMC streamer Acorn TV and ViacomCBS’s UK network Channel 5 are to further cement their forays into original drama by co-producing an adaptation of P.D. James’ best-selling Inspector Dalgliesh Mysteries crime novels.

Catherine The Great and Cobra producer New Pictures secured the rights to the novels and will produce a six-part series, comprising three, two-part stories from the world of enigmatic detective Adam Dalgliesh, who will be played by Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell and Doctor Foster actor Bertie Carvel.

The series will trace Dalgliesh’s crime-fighting career from 1970s England to the present day, with each story featuring him solving an unusual murder. Each case will offer its own unique setting and guest cast, with New Pictures being able to draw upon 14 books for inspiration.

The series, titled Dalgliesh, will include adaptations of Shroud for a Nightingale, featuring the murder of a student nurse; Dorset-set The Black Tower,...