Thursday round-up: Latest news, deals & hires

First Dates spin-off lands first remake

Netherlands-based BNNVARA has become the first broadcaster to order a local adaptation of Warner Bros. International Television Production’s First Dates Beach Club.

The format - a spin-off from the veteran First Dates franchise - is being produced by WBITVP Netherlands and trades the iconic restaurant for a vibrant beach club.

The format follows singles as they share cocktails, dinners and conversations to know each other before embarking on deeper relationships.

First Dates has run to 16 seasons in the Netherlands, with the spin-off set to film in autumn and debut on NPO Start in 2027.

Emily in Paris to conclude on Netflix

Netflix is bringing the curtain down on Emily in Paris Is Ending after a sixth and final season.

Production has started on the show in Greece and filming will also take place in France, with Lily Collins again starring. Writer, creator, and executive producer Darren Star is again attached.

Paramount Television Studios, Darren Star Productions and Jax Media produce.

Hulu extends The Testaments

Disney+ has extended The Testaments into a second season.

The show, ordered as a Hulu Original, picks up events after The Handmaid’s Tale and follows young teens they navigate the halls of Aunt Lydia’s elite preparatory school for future wives.

It is based on Margaret Atwood’s Booker Prize-winning novel of the same name and is created by showrunner and executive producer Bruce Miller. MGM Television and 20th Television produce.

S1 is now streaming on Disney+ in the UK, with the season finale on Wednesday, 27 May.

Rai 2 lands on Greek drama The Beach 

Italy’s Rai 2 has picked up rights to Greek TV drama The Beach following a deal with distributor Beta Film.

The 144 x 60-minute series debut 8 June and hails from Foss Productions in co-production with Greek public broadcaster ERT. Beta said deals with other European buyers are in final stages but declined further details.

The Beach is set in Matala, Crete, in 1969, and unfolds in a seemingly idyllic world of sunny shores, free-spirited youth and newfound community, until a murder exposes the messy entanglements spurred on by the hippies.

Stefanos Blatsos (Love After) directs and Panagiotis Iosifelis, George Chrysovitsanos and Kostas Gerampinis are writers. The show is based on an original idea by Pinelopi Kourtzi and Avgi Vagia.

Danish drama The Uniform heads to the BBC

The BBC has acquired Nordic crime drama The Uniform, produced by The Investigation indie Miso Film.

Heading to BBC4 and iPlayer, the 6 x 60-minute drama is set inside a competitive police academy in Denmark in the aftermath of a tragic incident in which a young police trainee has accidentally shot a man dead.

Soheil Bavi (The Legend) stars alongside Marco Ilsø (Vikings), Clara Rosager (Lost: Those Who Kill) and Lene Maria Christensen (The Excavation). Jonas Alexander Arnby (Blinded: Those Who Kill) directs while Sofie Bergstein, Jonas Allen, and Peter Bose produce for Fremantle label Miso Film. Oscar Giese (2 Days) and Anders August (The Quiet Ones) are writers.

The Uniform premiered on DR in February with over 1.5m viewers and a 47% share of viewing in Denmark. Read more

ChaiFlicks takes Bloody Murray, extends Shtisel

Jewish content streamer ChaiFlicks has picked up exclusive rights to the first two seasons of romantic comedy series Bloody Murray and renewed its deal for Shtisel.

The agreement with distributor Yes Studios includes SVOD rights to both series in the US, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, and the UK.

Bloody Murray follows the complex relationship between 30-something roommates Murray (Naomi Levov), a film lecturer, and Dana (Rotem Sela), a gynecologist at a hospital.

Stav Idisis created the show and directed the second season, with production by Kastina Communications and Yes TV.

Int’l chief named at UK’s ITNP

ITN Productions names Chris Broughall head of international

UK-based ITN Productions has upped Chris Broughall to become head of international, driving an unscripted slate that includes true crime, documentaries and popular factual.

He reports to head of global TV, Caroline Short, and is tasked with developing content for the US and international markets.

Broughall joined ITN Productions seven months ago as deputy head of international and has overseen the development of two documentaries that are now greenlit and his project When Soccer Came to America: Goals, Glamour and the Beautiful Game, which aired on TNT in the US. Read more