Wednesday round-up: Latest news, deals & hires

ITV orders latest Quay Street drama

Nicola Shindler’s Quay Street Productions has landed an ITV1 and STV crime and corruption drama starring Michelle Keegan and Douglas Booth.  

In The Blame Keegan (Fool Me Once) and Booth (The Sandman) will play detectives investigating the murder of a teenage figure skater Sophie Madsen in the quiet town of Wakestead. Digging deeper, they uncover institutional cover-ups and treacherous politics inside their own team.   

Based on the debut novel by Charlotte Langley, the series is being written for TV and executive produced by Megan Gallagher (Wolf) and will be filmed in association with Fifth Season, which will also handle distribution. The series co-writers are Ashley Sanders and Namsi Khan. Read more

Amazon alum joins ABC in Oz

Former Amazon exec Milla McPhee has joined the ABC in Australia as director of audiences.

McPhee, who is currently chief strategy officer at Droga5 and managing director at Accenture Song, was previously head of brand and creative strategy for Amazon in Europe.

Milla will report into ABC managing director Hugh Marks and starts on 8 September 2025.

Ireland’s Salvage Squad heads to Hungary

Antenna Entertainment’s VIASAT3 in Hungary has ordered the first remake of Irish format The Salvage Squad following a deal with Belgium-based firm Primitives.

The show was originally produced by Amino TV for Virgin One Ireland and gives two households €1,000 to transform rooms without buying anything new.

The 8 x 60-minute Hungarian remake will be known locally as REnoválók – Lakás újrahasznosítva. It is being produced by Show&Game and will premiere on VIASAT3 in Q4.

The deal, which follows a second season order from Virgin One Ireland, was brokered by Emma Gosling, Primitives’ London-based sales and acquisitions manager.

Asharq takes NHK Kamikaze doc

Arabic language free-to-air factual channel Asharq Documentary has acquired Japanese doc Kamikaze: An Untold History.

The show is from broadcaste NHK and was created to commemorate the 80th anniversary of World War II.

The doc is sold by NJK Enterprises and has already been aired by the BBC. It explores how and why Japan’s imperial armed forces launched the ‘kamikaze’ attacks towards the end of the conflict. 

Sky alum Stuart Murphy joins Social Media Check  

Former Sky exec Stuart Murphy has joined the board of Social Media Check.

Murphy, former director of Sky Entertainment Channels and most recently chief exec at English National Opera, becomes a non-executive director with immediate effect.

Social Media Check is part of YHH Technologies, which offers an AI-powered screening service for TV and film production companies.