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Rachel Shenton, Emily Atack and Joanne Whalley have been cast as the leads in upcoming U.K. psychological drama “The Rumour,” which depicts how small-town gossip can spiral out of control.

Based on Lesley Kara’s novel, the new five-part series sees Shenton play Joanna, a mother who moves to a quiet town with her young son looking for a fresh start. But she soon finds herself in an unsettling dynamic when she becomes entangled with a group of local mothers.

“When Joanna stumbles upon an online rumour about a child killer living in the town, she uses it to win over the mums at the school gate,” reads the logline. “As gossip spreads, suspicions build, and Joanna finds herself drawn into a web of secrets and paranoia. Balancing her efforts to protect her son with the growing unease in town, Joanna struggles to distinguish between truth and hearsay. With...

The next installment in one of the most beloved sci-fi franchises of all-time just got an exciting new update. A new report from Deadline revealed that Blade Runner 2099, the upcoming TV series which will be helmed by Jeremy Podeswa and Jonathan van Tulleken, has built out its ensemble cast with eight new stars. Dimitri Abold, best known for playing Reaper in The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbird and Snakes, has joined the cast, as well as Lewis Gribben and Katelyn Rose Downey. Daniel Rigby, who most recently appeared in two episodes of Renegade Nell, has also joined the cast, with all the aforementioned members being billed as series regulars.

Exclusive: Paramount+ has yanked a raft of international originals from its service along with several big-ticket acquired series.

Numerous English-language originals disappeared overnight last week, as the U.S. conglom’s strategy shift towards more Hollywood-style content and lower costs played out in real time. Other series that had been tipped for second seasons will not return.

Subscribers were left perplexed as shows vanished, and voiced bewilderment and frustration on X and elsewhere online. The removed shows have been taken off the streaming service in all territories.

Samantha Morton-starrer The Burning Girls and One Night, the Australia-set drama with Doctor Who star Jodie Whittaker, have disappeared from the streamer. Likewise, Eleventh Hour Films-produced The Killing Kind, based on the book of the same name, and thriller The Serial Killer’s Wife, have been pulled.

The Doll Factory, the adaptation of the bestselling novel from Marcella producer Buccaneer, has also come down.

Exclusive: The After, the debut short from photographer Misan Harriman, best known for his portraits of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry, will debut on Netflix on October 25 after screening at the London Film Festival.

The Oscar-qualified short stars David Oyelowo and comes from a story by Harriman, with a screenplay by writer John Julius Schwabach. The story follows Dayo (Oyelowo), a Londoner who has to reconnect with himself and society after witnessing a devastating random attack in the capital.

Si Bell Bsc served as DoP while Nicky Bentham of Neon Films, and Oyelowo via his Yoruba Saxon Productions produced.

The After is Harriman’s first narrative film project. A self-taught photographer, he is the first black person to shoot the September cover of British Vogue. His photography work has also been featured in Vanity Fair,...

Last June, Paramount Global pulled out all the stops at London’s spacey Outernet venue for its streaming launch in the U.K. The studio flew in 21 stars including Michelle Pfeiffer and Sylvester Stallone to pitch their Paramount+ originals to a wide-eyed audience. No expense, it seemed, was spared for the service’s splashy kick-off.

One year later, as Paramount Global sheds assets Stateside and offloads original programs in a bid to save money, that investment in international seems to be paying off. The company’s most robust signs of growth appear to be from its international streaming division, which has penetrated more than 45 markets to date, spanning Western Europe, Australia, South America and Canada. Currently, 85 local originals have been earmarked for the platform — and those commissions aren’t going anywhere, according to top brass.

“We’ve always been very cost conscious in the way that we’ve developed those...

As Paramount Global refocuses its operations on a global mindset and local execution, it’s unveiling a new name and mission for its studios operations across markets that will now concentrate on high-end scripted content that can drive growth at Paramount+.

Led by Maria Kyriacou, president, broadcast & studios, international markets at Paramount Global, the company’s studios business outside the U.S. will now be known as Paramount Television International Studios (Ptis). That name replaces the ViacomCBS International Studio (Vis) brand that the company had kept following the 2019 merger of Viacom and CBS. The operation is set to have a closer relationship and alignment with the wider Paramount Studios organization.

“Our goal is to deliver on the strategic priorities of our business and accelerate growth for Paramount+, creating premium scripted content that reflects the cultures and experiences of our diverse international audiences,” said Kyriacou in an internal memo. “Working in...

Exec says half of Paramount+’s growth is from international market.

Marco Nobili, the head of Paramount+ international has underlined the streamer will continue investing in international projects despite a strong focus on producing major franchises such as Yellowstone, Star Trek and Dexter.

Paramount+, which launched in March 2021, is now streaming in 45 countries after a global roll-out last year and has 56 million subscribers.

Nobili said streaming is “a game that needs to be played at scale,” noting the bigger the scale, the more revenues are generated and the more that can be invested in infrastructure and programming.

“International is going...

Paramount+ is well ahead of its target to greenlight 150 non-u.S. originals by 2025 but international boss Marco Nobili wishes the streamer could have rolled out quicker.

Addressing Series Mania this afternoon, Nobili said “if I could have accelerated our rollout then I would have” when questioned on how he would have done things differently over the past two years.

“But you have to balance these things out,” he countered. “Sometimes staggering a launch proves to be the right recipe. If you show audiences the window you can get straight out the gate but could compromise on show quality.”

Nobili added: “We could maybe have done an even faster rollout but looking back it was a challenge and we are proud of how it has worked out.”

Paramount+ is now live in dozens of territories around the world and is well ahead of its target to greenlight 150 originals by 2025, Nobili revealed.

Writer, producer and script editor Cassandra Johnson-Bekoe has joined U.K. independent production company Dare Pictures in the newly created position of head of scripted development.

Johnson-Bekoe was previously senior development executive at Daniel Kaluuya’s production outfit 59%, overseeing the company’s slate and generating new IP across international and regional markets. Prior to this she worked in scripted development. Her credits include “Ted Lasso” season 2 (WarnerBros/Apple+), “Riches” (Greenacre Films for ITV), “Secret Invasion” (Marvel Studios) and “The Chemistry of Death”.

Reporting into Dare CEO Derren Lawford, Johnson-Bekoe will focus on developing the company’s scripted slate, as well bringing with her an original slate of IP and working on new drama and film projects with a view to taking them from pitch to commission with a particular emphasis on the U.S. and African markets. She will also identify and develop relationships with emerging and established storytelling talent.

Welcome To Chippendale's Kumail Nanjiani joins us on this week's show to explain the nature of comedy to James, plus Parminder Nagra stops by to discuss ITV's now back-to-work series, Maternity with Kay.

Elsewhere, we go traipsing through the woods with Harry Treadaway in Chemistry Of Death, and are Finally able to talk about The Last Of Us, which James has already declared to be the show of 2023. There's also some Golden Globes chat, some musings on shows we'd like to have our memories erased to re-watch and much excitement that it all appears to be kicking off in Carnival Row season 2.

Listen to the episode in the player above, or on your podcast app of choice.