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Professor T

Type: Drama
Length: 6 x 60-minutes
Producer: Eagle Eye Drama
Broadcaster: ITV (UK)

The hotly anticipated remake of the Belgian format, starring Death in Paradise lead Ben Miller has “everything which works, sales-wise”, according to Moritz von Kruedener, managing director of Beta Film.

The high-end English-language procedural drama, which is set against the backdrop of the University of Cambridge, follows the exploits of the title character, a neurotic criminologist who is obsessed by cleanliness. When a former student now police detective turns to him for help, he reluctantly agrees, juggling his own foibles, a domineering mother, and the spectre of an unlocked childhood trauma.

As he joins forces with the police department, Professor T finds himself well out of his comfort zone and struggles to cope with his mental issues, with the most reassuring aspect of his life being the solving of violent crimes.

Produced by nascent indie Eagle Eye Drama, the label run by Walter Iuzzolino and the team behind Channel 4’s international drama streamer Walter Presents, the series has already pre-sold across Scandinavia. Besides the Belgian forebear, the format has also been adapted in Germany with ZDF. Having an English adaptation is a perfect foil to the existing productions, according to von Kruedener.

“There are some territories where the likelihood of selling English-speaking content is higher than Belgian and German,” he says.

“We have access to countries where we haven’t been. For example, we haven’t sold the original to Scandinavia, and we also might be able to do something in Asia with this version too.”

Given the quality of the production and the cast, which also includes Harry Potter alumna Frances de la Tour, von Kruedener believe the series will sell into Germany, despite the presence of the local version. “With family crime drama there are no high-risk territories,” he says. “Not even China. We expect a broad number of countries.”

Beta will target channels which have a broad audience, akin to commissioning broadcaster ITV, with mainstream free-to-air channels in mind. Von Kruedener notes the Eagle Eye team’s “deep knowledge of European drama” via its Walter Presents work to “translate a non-English speaking success into a UK hit.

“They’ve done this by taking the original format and keeping all the essential elements,” he says. “I’m convinced it will open up the UK to more European formats.”