Last year’s US writers’ and actors’ strikes have pushed productions of shows back in the schedules, including series shot in the UK. Some British shows might also have been put back to accommodate reschedules and reshoots on these US productions.
Returning scripted series currently in development and pre-production in the UK include series two of Netflix’s The Sandman, which will be filmed at Shepperton; series three of Hartswood Films' Amazon Prime series The Devil’s Hour, filming at Farnborough Film Studios from the end of February; series six of ITV’s Unforgotten, which is set to shoot from March; series two of Scottish ITV crime drama Karen Pirie, in production this summer; and a second series of 42's The Flatshare for Paramount+, which will return to London, Brighton and Bristol.
New novel adaptations include SunnyMarch’s six-part version of Matt Haig’s novel How to Stop Time in London and across Europe; Janice Hallett’s The Twyford Code, from Rope Ladder Fiction; a BBC/A24 series based on Douglas Stuart’s Booker Prize-winning Shuggie Bain, set to film in Scotland; and Clerkenwell Films’ The Death of Bunny Munro, adapted from Nick Cave’s novel and starring Matt Smith.
Unscripted
In unscripted, the BBC’s coverage of the Euro 2024 football championship will dominate Manchester’s Dock 10 this summer.
Studio Lambert’s BBC1 hit The Traitors has a third series order, likely to shoot again in Scotland this summer. The indie is also co-producing series two of Netflix’s Squid Game: the Challenge, with casting currently underway.
Also set for summer is a second 20-part batch of Channel 4’s A Place in the Sun: What Happened Next? from Freeform.
Meanwhile, ITV Studios label Potato will be returning to Belfast for series two of BBC1 quiz The Finish Line, its first Northern Irish production.
The big prize in entertainment, however, is Destination X, the BBC’s adaptation of a blockbuster Belgian adventure format. Twofour won the contract last month following a six-way competitive tender and will be crewing up for filming this year. As with Studio Lambert’s The Traitors, the deal covers both UK and US versions of the show.
