Beta Film‘s hit shows including “Bookish” and “Professor T” have found a home at leading French broadcasters and platforms.
Canal+ has acquired both seasons of “Bookish,” the English-language crime series created by and starring Primetime Emmy Award winner Mark Gatiss, as well as the popular crime movie cycle “Death in Denmark.”
Set in post-war London, “Bookish” has sold in more than 100 territories across five continents and launched strongly on UKTV in the U.K., averaging 1.5 million viewers and becoming the second highest-performing premiere in the channel’s history. Season 2 sees Polly Walker (“Bridgerton”) and Connor Finch (“Everything I Know About Love”) return alongside Gatiss, with a cast that also includes Elliot Levey (“We Were the Lucky Ones,” “Quiz”), Blake Harrison (“Still Up,” “World on Fire”), Buket Kömür (“Our House”), Jason Watkins (“The Game,” “McDonald & Dodds”), Miranda Richardson (“The Last Anniversary”) and Simon Callow (“Étoile”).
The show is produced by Eagle Eye Drama, an ITV Studios company, in association with Happy Duck Films and supported by the Belgian Tax Shelter. It will launch on May 16 on Canal+’s Polar+ channel.
“Death in Denmark,” meanwhile, follows Danish police officers Ida and Magnus, who stop at nothing when dark legacies clash with modern crime. Produced by Eikon Media for ARD Degeto, the films delivered record-breaking results in Germany, achieving the highest market share for a Thursday crime film in over two years, with an average audience of 6.5 million viewers and an impressive 28.7% market share.
Beta Film also secured a French sale to 13ème Rue, the NBCUniversal-backed pay channel for “Professor T,” a crime drama set at Cambridge University, and starring Ben Miller (“Bridgerton”) as Cambridge’s illustrious Professor Jasper Tempest. Produced by Eagle Eye Drama for ITV and PBS, the series has been sold by Beta Film in almost 120 territories worldwide and returns for a fifth season. “Professor T” reunites Miller with Frances de la Tour (“Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire”), who reprises her role as Adelaide Tempest, the professor’s mother. PBS Distribution holds the North American rights.
On the streaming side, HBO Max France will premiere season two of “Maxima,” a Dutch royal drama charts the wedding of Máxima and Willem-Alexander. Produced by Millstreet Films in co-production with FBO and Beta Film, “Maxima” has been sold in 85 territories worldwide and garnered strong ratings on Videoland in the Netherlands, Rai in Italy, TV2 in Denmark, and Atresmedia in Spain, and ranked in the Top 10 on HBO’s streaming service Max in Latin America for multiple weeks. A third season is currently in development, alongside the spinoff “The Other Royals – A Maxima Story,” which is in production.
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