London Screenings 2022

The Suspect

Type: Thriller
Length: 5 x 60 minutes
Producer: World Productions
Broadcaster: ITV (UK)

World Productions, Broadcast Awards 2022 best independent production company, is in the midst of a purple patch. After Line Of Duty, Vigil and The Pembrokeshire Murders became the most-watched dramas of 2021, it quickly followed up with courtroom drama Showtrial, which consolidated nicely for BBC1, and biopic Anne, which landed on ITV to rave reviews.

Next up for the prolific producer is The Suspect, a five-part psychological thriller based on the best-selling debut novel by Michael Robotham.

The series tells the story of doctor Joe O’Loughlin, who appears to have the perfect life: a loving family, a successful practice as a clinical psychologist, a healthy media profile and a publishing deal. He is even labelled a hero after rescuing a young patient who was ready to jump from the tenth floor of the hospital where he works.

But when his professional opinion is sought by police officers investigating the death of a young woman found in a shallow grave, the body is someone he knows. From that moment, the drama asks whether Joe has a secret life, and whether his work as a clinical psychologist has allowed him to develop a criminal mindset.

The series’ array of talent is impressive. Aidan Turner (Poldark) stars as Joe alongside Shaun Parkes (Small Axe), Sian Clifford (Quiz), Camilla Beeput (Save Me Too), Adam James (Vigil), Anjli Mohindra (Vigil) and Bobby Schofield (Time).

Gangs Of London scribe Peter Berry has adapted Robotham’s novel for TV, while Liar, Vigil and Broadchurch director James Strong will helm the first three episodes before Camilla Strøm Henriksen (Phoenix, Occupied) takes over. World Productions’ head of drama Jake Lushington (Vigil, Born To Kill), will oversee the series.

“It is a fast-paced suspenseful thriller, it grabs you from the first frame,” says Gisela Asimus-Minnbergh executive vice-president, EMEA sales and distribution at ITV Studios, who teases that the opening is as tense as the famous start to Bodyguard.

That pace, she says, means ITVS will be able to target streamers alongside traditional free-to-air broadcasters, given SVoD audiences’ proclivity for high-octane drama. As a drama akin to Vigil and Bodyguard, The Suspect has “broad, commercial appeal”, but would not be out of place at a US platform like Peacock, on which Vigil launched.

Asimus-Minnbergh has high hopes for deals in western European countries such as Germany and France, where she says fast-paced drama cuts through well and that the interest in World Productions’ shows is such that the main challenge for ITVS is to carve out windowing as opposed to striking pan-territory deals.

“To get the order right, and knowing that the streamers are very keen on European content and well-produced commercial British content, is tricky,” she says.

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Holding

Type: Drama
Length: 4 x 60 minutes
Producer: Happy Prince Productions
Broadcaster: ITV (UK)

‘It’s a whodunit, but also a character-driven story’

In 2019, ITV Studios launched a new scripted label in partnership with A Very English Scandal showrunner Dominic Treadwell-Collins. Subsequently named Happy Prince Productions, its main focus is the creation of high-end returning series that can play out across the UK and international markets.

ITV Studios’ senior vice-president of global content for scripted Kate Barnes recalls that one of the first conversations she had with Treadwell-Collins was about the fact he had picked up the rights to Holding, a best-selling novel by Graham Norton, adding: “He was very excited about it – explaining how the characters, the relationships and the plot all made it an incredibly special book.”

Roll forward two years and Treadwell-Collins is close to completing production on a four-part adaptation. Greenlit in the UK by ITV, international distribution now sits with ITVS, under its first-look arrangement with Happy Prince.

The story, written by Treadwell-Collins and Karen Cogan, centres on a local police officer, Sergeant PJ Collins, who has no real faith in his own abilities. Played by Conleth Hill (Game Of Thrones), PJ is a man who hides from people and fills his days with half-hearted police work.

“All that changes when PJ is called on to head a murder enquiry for the first time in his 15-year career,” says Barnes.

PJ is joined in West Cork by Linus (Normal People’s Clinton Liberty), a Dublin police officer who has been sent to offer support.

In terms of positioning, Barnes says: “It’s a whodunit, but also a character-driven story. Anyone familiar with Dominic’s sensibility will know that he is fascinated by interesting characters and how they relate to each other.”

At the time of writing, Virgin Media Television has struck a deal with ITVS for Ireland – but the rest of the world is still up for grabs.

Barnes says there is much to recommend the show: “An amazing cast, a beautiful part of the world, the crime/character combination and the international reputations of both Dominic and Graham. Four-parters are also good to sell, because they can be used either for bingeing or as linear schedule events,” she says.

Beat the Chasers

Type: Format
Length: 60-minutes
Producer: ITV Studios
Broadcaster: ITV (UK)

The spin-off to ITV Studios’ mega hit The Chase pitches eager quizzers up against the full brainpower of a team of Chasers.

In the first round of the primetime gameshow, contestants must answer five multiple choice questions to bank cash, before picking between two and five of the Chasers to battle against in round two.

The more Chasers they face the more cash they can win but the time advantage against them decreases.

“In the midst of the pandemic, the format has provided true escapist entertainment,” says Maarten Meijs, president of global entertainment ITV Studios.

“What people like about Beat the Chasers, is the fast-paced excitement, it’s fun and filled with banter and its not super high-brow.”

The series has sold to five regions where The Chase is already broadcast, and with the original format in 17 territories globally, “there is a lot of potential...to go in and sell the bigger primetime version” of the spin-off.

ITV Studios is selling the format in a “dual approach”. In the Netherlands, Meijs packaged The Chase and Beat the Chasers together, with both series launching in 2020. The two versions “make great companions” he says. “You can make a lot of episodes for relatively small budget which has been really attractive to broadcasters”.

The new format also lends itself to tight Covid-19 filming protocols with production bubbles, closed sets and cast separated by desks. Editions can also be made with contestants from a ‘family bubble’.

Beat the Chasers is picking up around 4.8m viewers and 28% share on ITV and is airing its first series on ABC in the US and had a successful launch in Spain.

The Chasers have become an “international family” and have begun crossing territories and appearing on other versions of the show.

“Beat the Chasers is relevant, in the zeitgeist, and ticks all the boxes,” Meijs adds.

Let Love Rule

Type: Format
Length: 213 x 30-minutes
Producer: ITV Studios Netherlands
Broadcaster: SBS6 (The Netherlands)

From the wheelhouse of formats mogul John de Mol, this series is less about the fast pace and games-infused dating fest of sibling show Love Island, and other shows on the market, Married at First Sight and First Dates.

In the show, singletons from 18 all the way up to octogenarians are given the opportunity to find love by immediately living together on their first date in a luxury apartment. The couples have 24 hours to get to know each other, and at the end of the day, each will have to decide if they would like to carry on the adventure or part ways. The unique dating concept allows for a date to last up to five days in the original format.

“It’s not slow television, it’s slow dating, allowing people to connect,” says Maarten Meijs, president of global entertainment at ITVS.

The series is already broadcasting its second 100-plus episode series on SBS6 in The Netherlands and has secured a commission in Sweden from TV4. Earlier this year, ITV2 ordered a UK version of the show called The Cabins.

Meijs says the commissions exemplify the breadth of interest this format could bring, with the Dutch version “more broadly skewed, aimed at family primetime” and TV4 and ITV2’s “going a bit younger”.

“It either lends itself for high-volume or more of an event approach where you strip it across a week,” he says. “You can blow it up into a bigger show.”

The local launch success has helped its early international roll-out, and although linear broadcasters have been primarily interested, Meijs says the “non-linear viewing has been strong” and can play on VoD services, as it does in the Netherlands.

“The two apartments we have in the original version, they’re not linear stories, you’re hooked continuously and you hop from one story to another,” he says. “So for creating viewer loyalty and recurring audiences, this show has potential.

“But within that there are smaller arcs in the storyline, so from that perspective it makes it interesting for non-linear and OTT services.”