Monday round-up: Latest news, deals & hires

BBC extends Celebrity Traitors

The Celebrity Traitors will return for a second series in 2026, the BBC has confirmed.

The news that host Claudia Winkleman and a fresh batch of celebrities will descend on Ardross Castle next year coincides with a report which found the cloak-and-dagger competition franchise has contributed nearly £22m to the Scottish economy.

The Celebrity Traitors renewal comes after the finale of series one of the Studio Lambert show attracted 11.1m viewers on Thursday night – BBC1’s biggest overnight audience this year, with a viewing share of (62.3%).

With 1.9m live requests on BBC iPlayer, the finale episode also has the highest rate of live viewing of any entertainment episode since the platform launched.

Night Manager S2 to bow in January

Prime Video is to launch the second season of The Night Manager in mid-January, it has confirmed.

The first three episodes will debut on Sunday, 11 January on Prime Video in the US, with one new episode releasing every Sunday, until the season finale on 1 February.

All six episodes of Season Two of the critically-acclaimed crime drama will stream exclusively on Prime Video worldwide, except in the UK where it is airing on BBC and BBC iPlayer.

The show picks up eight years after the S1 finale and again stars Tom Hiddleston and Olivia Colman. It is based on the characters created by John le Carré, with the show created and executive produced by David Farr. The Ink Factory produces in association with Character 7, Demarest Films and 127 Wall, and in co-production with Spain’s Nostromo Pictures.

Love Island follow-up returns to Peacock

Peacock has extended Love Island: Beyond the Villa into a second season.

The show will premiere in early 2026 and follows the six-week run of Love Island USA S7, which the streamer had accumulated more than 18.4bn minutes.

Production begins next week on the spin-off show, which follows former Islanders as they return back to their homes with newfound fame.

ITV America produces in association with GroupM Motion Entertainment. The first season of Love Island: Beyond the Villa was Peacock’s highest-reaching unscripted original debut season for the platform.

Fremantle appoints C4 exec for digital

Former C4 senior sales exec Adam Middleton as been hired by Fremantle UK to head its newly established digital and branded content division.  

Middleton will focus on commercial strategy to drive diversification beyond traditional production models, while building on the company’s creative partnerships. He will work across all areas of the media and brand landscapes to expand collaborations.  

Fremantle UK’s digital production arm will sit under Middleton and be led by Jamie Crossan in the newly created role of head of digital production. 

Lost Boys & Fairies prodco to close

Regional scripted indie Duck Soup is to shutter from January after its founders revealed it has become “increasingly untenable” for an indie its size to operate in the current market.

The Yorkshire-based company will cease active development and production from early next year but founders Libby Durdy, Jessica Brown-Meek and Bekki Wray-Rogers will continue to manage and oversee its existing IP. The trio is in the process of finding suitable homes for their existing slate of TV and film projects.

Durdy, Brown-Meek and Wray-Rogers, who remain close friends and collaborators, launched Duck Soup in 2015, and secured minority investment from Fremantle in 2017. In 2021, it joined the Channel 4 Indie Growth Fund.

The indie’s debut series Lost Boys & Fairies broadcast on BBC1 last year and garnered widespread acclaim and multiple awards, including two Bafta nominations, five Bafta Cymru wins and a nomination for best single drama/mini-series at this month’s International Emmys. Read more