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BBC Studios has renewed its partnership with Spain’s Movistar Plus+ through a multi-year content deal that includes the launch of BBC Player, additional Fast channels, and a continued commitment to natural history programming. The BBC Player streaming service will offer up to 1,000 hours of content, including The Louis Theroux Interviews, Simon Reeve’s South America, and Amanda & Alan’s Italian Job. The Paradise franchise, featuring Death in Paradise, Beyond Paradise, and Return to Paradise, will also be available.

Movistar Plus+ subscribers will have access to a BBC Earth-branded programming block featuring Blue Planet III and Kingdom. The deal includes Movistar Plus+ serving as BBC Studios’ local advertising sales partner for the newly introduced Fast channels—BBC Top Gear, BBC Drama, BBC Food, and BBC History.

The agreement was announced ahead of the annual BBC Studios Showcase, a key industry event where the company highlights upcoming content offerings and strategic partnerships.

BBC Studios & Movistar Plus+ Renew Content Pact

BBC Studios (Bbcs) is staying in business with Spain’s Movistar Plus+, with the pair striking a new, multi-year content deal. This will see the debut of a BBC Player streaming service, new Fast channels and a recommitment to natural history and BBC Earth programs. Bbcs and streaming service Movistar Plus+ have already launched the likes of Planet Earth III, Mammal, Time Season 2 and cop show Blue Lights in Spain, while four Fast channels — BBC Top Gear, BBC Drama, BBC Food and BBC History — were added last month. The BBC Player service will offer up to 1,000 hours of content such as The Louis Theroux Interviews, Simon Reeve’s South America and Amanda & Alan’s Italian Job. It will also carry the Paradise franchise, offering Death in Paradise, Beyond Paradise and Return to Paradise. Blue Planet III and Kingdom will run as part of...

The national broadcaster Rai is turning Mario Tobino’s novel Le Libere Donne di Magliano into a television series in Italy. Set in a Tuscan psychiatric institution during WWII, the drama promises to delve into themes of women’s resilience and societal problems. The series, produced by Endemol Shine Italy and Rai Fiction, stars Lino Guanciale, Grace Kicaj, Gaia Messerklinger, and Fabrizio Biggio in leading roles. Endemol Italy’s head, Leonardo Pasquinelli, praised the project as “a powerful narrative of resilience, freedom, and self-worth,” underlining its historical and contemporary relevance.

The international television market is brimming with activity. At the Unifrance TV Export Awards in Paris, various productions were recognized for their brilliance. Newen Connect’s art heist drama Cat’s Eyes gained critical acclaim, with CEO Rodolphe Buet applauding its high-quality storytelling and bold vision.

In Australia, Sbs made waves by acquiring a sizable collection of international content from Beta Film.

Rai Adapting Mario Tobino’s Tuscan World War Two Novel

Italy’s Rai is adapting Mario Tobino’s influential novel Le Libere Donne di Magliano- Mondadori Libri. Endemol Shine Italy and Rai Fiction are producing the adaptation, which is set in Tuscany during the Second World War and follows a psychiatrist challenging the repressive confines of a women’s psychiatric hospital. Within this microcosm of society, some women find solace and an unexpected sense of freedom within a restrictive society, while others are unjustly confined for defying societal norms. The series stars Lino Guanciale, Grace Kicaj, Gaia Messerklinger and Fabrizio Biggio. Endemol Italy boss Leonardo Pasquinelli said: “This co-production illustrates our strong partnership with Rai and our combined commitment to deliver high-quality, culturally significant stories. Le Libere Donne is a powerful narrative of resilience, freedom and self-worth, bridging period drama with contemporary relevance, showcasing the impactful work of Mario Tobino.

Beta Film, one of Europe’s biggest and most ambitious independents, has unveiled its Mipcom sales slate, led by 10-part epic “Rise of the Raven,” plus a new pick-up, “Last to Brake,” based on the true story of Finnish motorcycle racing great Jarno Saarinen, and now 288 episodes of Greek daily series smash hit “The Beach.”

Also brought to market are two Eagle Eye Drama shows: singular PBS and Channel 4 procedural “Patience,” starring Laura Fraser (“Breaking Bad”); and “Bookish,” created and starring Emmy Award winner Mark Gatiss, as well as Internet troll redemption’s tale “A Better Man,” from public broadcast powerhouses Nrk and Zdf.

Promising one of Mipcom’s biggest world premieres and billed by Beta Film as one of the most epic European TV productions of all time – which is something coming from Beta, the producers of “Babylon Berlin” and “Swarm” – “Rise of the Raven,” produced by the...

Fisher King, the leading Finnish company behind some of Scandinavia’s biggest scripted hits including “Bordertown” and “The Helsinki Syndrome,” has gone bankrupt amid challenges that have thrown the Scandinavian TV industry into turmoil.

Beta Film, which acquired Fisher King in 2019 and subsequently launched the umbrella banner Beta Nordic Studios, said the company was declared bankrupt on Dec. 23.

Fisher King was founded in 2013 by executive producer Matti Halonen and chief visual officer Miikko Oikkonen. Over the years, the outfit was able to produce some of the region’s most ambitious drama series through international co-productions. The company’s recent titles include “Estonia,” a limited series directed by Swedish director Måns Månsson and Finnish director Juuso Syrjä, about Europe’s deadliest civil maritime disaster which killed over 850 people in 1994. Oikkonen was a showrunner and co-wrote the show.

Speaking to Variety, Beta Nordic Studios’ executive chairman Justus Riesenkampff said that in spite of its stellar track record,...

Beta Film has dropped the trailer for “Estonia,” a Scandinavian limited series about Europe’s deadliest civil maritime disaster.

The eight-part cinematic show, which is represented in international markets by Jan Mojto’s Beta Film (“Babylon Berlin”), charts the sinking of the Ms Estonia on Sept. 28, 1994, which killed over 850 people.

The series is directed by Swedish director Måns Månsson and Finnish director Juuso Syrjä. While the sinking of the ship is an important part of the show, “Estonia” also spotlights the tentacular probe launched in the aftermath of the tragedy by the Joint Accident Investigation Committee established by Sweden, Estonia and Finland.

Showrunner Miikko Oikkonen, who co-wrote the series with Olli Suitiala and Tuomas Hakola, said that when he “started to read the final report and went through the material, (he) realized the investigation itself was even more interesting than the accident.”

“It was a power play, a political game...

Screen Rant is proud to present an exclusive clip from the new Finnish series Helsinki Syndrome, streaming exclusively on Topic beginning on February 16. The 8-episode thriller follows entrepreneur and family man Elias Karo, whose vendetta against the government causes him to take four journalists hostage in order to uncover a decades-long deceit that ruined his family and along with far too many others. When a bank manager and a district court judge made off with his family’s possessions in the '90s, an event that was sanctioned by the Finnish government, hundreds of others were affected and cannot escape the cycle of poverty to this day. who find themselves ineligible for any Covid assistance, bankrupting their businesses. Elias hopes that by holding the journalists captive, he can expose the corruption and conspiracy to keep Finland’s working poor from getting ahead.

Helsinki Syndrome is directed by Juuso Syrjä (who...

"We will find the truth; we will find the culprits." Topic has revealed an official US trailer for a streaming series from Finland titled Helsinki Syndrome, a riff on the classic "Stockholm Syndrome" term. The story involves a crime from the past being connected to a current hostage situation in Finland. Entrepreneur Elias Karo takes four journalists hostage in order to reveal that 30 years ago, a bank manager and a district court judge took his family's possessions with the government's blessing and caused a still ongoing family tragedy. Elias, a working class family man is deeply haunted by the economic strife his family endured in the 90s. To settle a decades-long vendetta, he holds 4 journalists hostage to expose bank and government corruption while concealing an ulterior motive. The series stars Kseniya Peter Franzén, Oona Airola, and Taneli Mäkelä. This definitely looks like a made-for-tv series, but it has an intriguing...

As Topic continues to bulk up its catalog of European series, the streamer reached out to Collider once again to share an exciting new title that is set to premiere in mid-February. Helsinki Syndrome is an eight-episode thriller series that centers around a man who takes extreme measures in order to exact revenge on the Finnish government, which ruined his life once he discovered a scandalous cover-up. We can now share with you the trailer for Season 1 of the series, along with the release date: February 16.