Factual creeps in front as drama takes a hit

The dip in the number of titles submitted for this year’s Mipcom Hot Picks (122 compared with 150 last year) is a simple refl ection of the macro trends in the international market: fewer dramas are being made and the bar for entry is higher than ever. Which could explain why, at just 35% of total submissions, the proportion of scripted titles put forward this year is 10 percentage points lower than in 2024.

Shows that exploit established IP – Robin Hood, John Grisham’s The Rainmaker, the work of bestselling Irish author Marian Keyes or 2009 French prison drama A Prophet – or fall into one of several evergreen sub-genres account for more than half (23) of the 43 scripted titles. But none is more eye-catching than Lord Of The Flies, a co-commission of William Golding’s seminal 1954 coming-of-age novel for the BBC and Australia’s Stan.

Adapted by Adolescence’s Jack Thorne, produced by Eleven (Sex Education; Ten Pound Poms) and with sales handled by Sony, the hope is that it will emulate the success of recent book adaptations such as The Narrow Road To The Deep North and Mr Loverman.

That said, what also stands out in this year’s cohort is the number of ‘character dramas’ – scripted shows that focus on the interplay between protagonists rather than falling within a typical sub-genre such as crime, espionage or action. More than a quarter (26%) of the scripted series in the list fall into this category.

UK titles are particularly strong in this area, with Banijay Entertainment-distributed BBC1/HBO co-commission Half Man, the latest from Baby Reindeer creator Richard Gadd, leading the way. A pair of Channel 4 dramas – Jack Thorne’s Falling (also Banijay) exploring love and faith, and All3Media International’s romantic drama Trespasses, set during The Troubles – are emblematic of how the UK broadcasters and global buyers are attempting to be purveyors of creative risk and expression.

Like Falling and Trespasses, shows that explore romantic relationships are popular, with APC Studios’ Seasons (Arte) and Two Years Later (Paramount+) also falling into this pot. Hat Trick’s multi-layered Stan drama Dear Life, Cineflix Rights’ The Walsh Sisters, Beta Film’s Seacrow Island and NBC Universal Global TV Distribution’s The Five-Star Weekend all explore complex human relationships.

Character-driven drama

Elsewhere, Beta Film’s Mozart Mozart and All3Media International’s I Fought The Law take familiar stories and give them a unique twist, highlighting the trend for digging into character to make dramas stand out.

This year’s titles also include a not insubstantial collection of comedies – historically regarded as trickier to sell on the international market. Fox

Entertainment Global’s pair of Tubi titles (workplace comedy The Z-Suite and adult animation Breaking Bear) underscore how the Fox-owned AVoD streamer is aiming to make a splash with its originals around the world, while Fifth Season’s Kevin Kline-fronted American Classic shows that even sales houses with highly curated slates continue to take the plunge into humour.

Standout shows using more familiar storytelling engines include BBC Studios’ prison drama Waiting For The Out and Boat Rocker Studios’ The Ridge, while Fremantle’s The Cage – the latest drama from The Responder writer Tony Schumacher – looks set to travel. All three series were produced for BBC1 in the UK, which has again proved one of the most varied commissioners on the international landscape.

Scripted’s slide is compensated for somewhat by an increase in factual submissions to 51 (42% of all titles). Some 41% of these are specialist factual, up from just over a quarter last year. Of the 21 titles in the specialist factual sub-genre, history dominates, with 17 to science’s four. However, TVF International’s The Ozempic Effect and Hat Trick’s Do You Have ADHD? show the focus on science reflects contemporary societal issues and topics.

With numerous World War II anniversaries taking place across 2025, coupled with the subject’s perennial popularity, it is little surprise that a quarter of the specialist factual series and more than a third of the history titles are based on the conflict and associated subjects. Flagbearers include Nutopia’s A+E Global Media tentpole WWII With Tom Hanks, a 20-episode series fronted by the Saving Private Ryan star.

True crime is still a popular genre for distributors, and there are no signs that buyers’ thirst for the genre is being slaked. Notable submissions include Operation Dark Phone and The Moonies: Married To The Cult (w/t). However, there is a clear trend of acquisitions execs targeting lighter fare to counter the travails of everyday life, global politics and civil unrest.

There are six travelogues among this year’s submissions, often hosted by likeable and recognisable talent, and occasionally combined with other popular factual topics such as cooking. 

Lionsgate TV’s Breaking Bread and Proper Television’s Andy’s East Coast Kitchen Crawl fall squarely into that bracket, complementing straight travelogues Rob And Rylan’s Passage To India from BBC Studios, Martin Compston Living Las Vegas (BossaNova Media) and DCD Rights’ Bill Bailey’s Vietnam Adventure.

The format landscape is still a fruitful one for distributors, with its proportion of all submissions rising by six percentage points to 21%. Continuing global buying trends, almost a third of all formats fall into the reality/adventure/survival competition space, while a further two are also competitions but in the worlds of business and music respectively: NBC Universal Formats’ eye-catching On Brand and Talpa Studios’ Final Chord, a take on The Piano.

Adventure buzz

In the adventure space, Fox Entertainment Global’s survival format Extracted created a lot of buzz when it was launched at the London TV Screenings at the beginning of the year, and its second series renewal on Fox in May will only help its cause.

Destination X’s presence on UK and US screens over the summer, along with the popularity of The Amazing Race/Race Across The World, has given rise to formats with similar beats, such as Primitives’ Convoy and Warner Bros International TV Production’s World’s Wildest Race.

One to watch in the reality space is Fremantle’s Pandora’s Box, which has been kept tightly under wraps until its launch at Mipcom. In the strategic reality competition, inspired by the Greek myth, a box conceals the names of cursed contestants – one of whom will be eliminated. Opening it offers the chance to change your fate, but at a cost: money is lost, consequences are triggered, and suspicion spreads.

The cloak-and-dagger elements are familiar, but with every buyer asking format creators to “bring me The Traitors”, it’s hardly surprising. That it hails from the global formats nerve centre of The Netherlands, namely veteran indie Blue Circle, will generate still more interest.

Gameshows are also on display in bulk. Talpa Studios’ IP adaptation Trivial Pursuit offers recognisability, and NBCU will have high hopes for ITV Saturday night primetime quiz Win Win – dubbed the broadcaster’s “biggest ad-funded programme ever” and representative of the evolutionary forces at work both on and off screen.