Netflix has announced new commissions and upcoming releases at its first UK Upfronts.
The new commissions and upcoming releases span comedy entertainment and scripted dramas.
Sarah Lancashire leads a new scripted drama from writer Abi Morgan. Bob Mortimer and Richard Ayoade lead an all star-comedy line-up in a new comedy entertainment format. Black Doves Season 2 was confirmed for release on November 5th. Netflix also revealed a first look at Charlie Brooker’s Blackmere, confirmed the casting of Rory Kinnear, and announced that the series will premiere in early 2027.
BLACK DOVES SEASON 2 [On Netflix, 5th November] Helen (Keira Knightley) is still betraying her nation’s secrets to the covert organisation she serves: the Black Doves. But after the misadventures of last Christmas, and with her husband Wallace (Andrew Buchan), preparing to become Prime Minister, she is walking a more treacherous line than ever.
As Helen’s enigmatic handler Mrs Reed (Sarah Lancashire) is ensnared in a ruthless plot to undermine her position in the Black Doves, Helen is reunited with her best friend Sam (Ben Whishaw). The once high-end triggerman is now reduced to lonely drinks in Soho bars and low-rate hits. As they search for answers, loyalties are weaponised, trust is shattered, and the fight to protect the people they love could cost everything. With all the explosive wit of Series 1, Helen and Sam’s mission leads them back to old friends and enemies, through the dark decisions and painful sacrifices of their pasts, and right to the heart of the Black Doves.
WRITER AND CREATOR: Joe Barton (Amadeus, Giri/Haji)
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Jane Featherstone (Eric, This Is Going To Hurt) and Chris Fry(Coldwater, KAOS), Joe Barton (Amadeus, Giri/Haji) and Keira Knightley
SERIES PRODUCER: Callum Devrell-Cameron (Lord of the Flies)
PRODUCTION COMPANY: Sister Pictures
DIRECTORS: Julian Farino (Amadeus, Giri/Haji), Kieron Hawkes (Red Eye, Fortitude)
CAST: Keira Knightley (Pride and Prejudice, The Imitation Game), Ben Whishaw (This Is Going to Hurt, Peter Hujar’s Day), Sarah Lancashire (Happy Valley, Julia), Andrew Buchan (Code of Silence, Apartment 7A), Kathryn Hunter (Ann Droid, Ladies First, Poor Things), Ella Lily Hyland (Towards Zero, Fifteen Love), Gabrielle Creevy (Amadeus, The Guest), Agnes O’Casey (Star City, Lies We Tell), Ambika Mod (One Day, This Is Going To Hurt), Babou Ceesay (Alien Earth, Free Fire), Sam Riley (Islands, Mint), Neve Campbell (Scream, The Lincoln Lawyer), Sylvia Hoeks (Blade Runner 2049, Ride or Die), Goran Kostic (Canary Black, Ant-Man and The Wasp), Samuel Barnett (Lee, Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency)
CHARLIE BROOKER’S BLACKMERE [On Netflix, Early 2027] is an absurd comedy disguised as an incredibly serious crime thriller. Tormented Detective John Blackmere leaves the rain-soaked Northern city of Bleakford for London to avenge his partner’s death and catch a ritualistic serial killer before they run out of victims. Contains blood and frowning.
CREATOR: Charlie Brooker (Black Mirror)
WRITTEN BY: Charlie Brooker with Ben Caudell, Jason Hazeley, Emer Kenny, Daniel Maier and Joel Morris. With additional material by Victoria Asare Archer.
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Charlie Brooker, Jessica Rhoades, Annabel Jones
CO-EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Mark Kinsella
PRODUCER: Richard Webb
DIRECTOR: Al Campbell
CAST: Paddy Considine (House of the Dragon, MobLand), Georgina Campbell (Barbarian, Watchers) and Lena Headey (Game of Thrones, The Abandons) to star.
HOT OR COLD stars Bob Mortimer and Richard Ayoade leading an all-star line-up of comedians and funny celebrities in Hot or Cold, a brand new comedy entertainment show set inside a mysterious institution with challenges that appear to make no sense. Their only guide is the room itself, which glows red when they’re getting warmer and blue when they’re getting colder. The challenges range from the simple to the completely absurd and totally hilarious as the pairs race through room after room to be crowned Hot Or Cold champions. It’s the classic childhood game now played by adults who really should know better.
Bob Mortimer said: “Spending time with Richard Ayoade is one of my all-time favourite things to do. Closely followed by playing Hot or Cold, so this has worked out brilliantly.”
Richard Ayoade said: “Although I prefer mild temperatures, it’s been instructive to participate in something as binary as this.”
Chris Cohen, executive producer, Zeppotron said: I’ve spent my entire career in telly walking into rooms and having no idea what’s going on, so it’s a delight to work with Netflix and finally make a show with that exact premise. We are thrilled to have two of Britain’s best in Bob and Richard at the heart of it all.”
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Chris Cohen, Richard Cohen, Peter Holmes
PRODUCTION COMPANY: Zeppotron (part of Banijay UK)
WITCH HUNT When August Howell, a descendent of the ‘Witch of Cambridge’ is released after three decades in prison for drowning her three young daughters, she comes home to a community who does not want her back. But when concern grows that her return has triggered a modern day witch hunt in the university town, the police must turn to August’s last surviving daughter, Professor Wren Howell, academic and investigative psychologist to help find the killer as past resentments and local folklore collide.
Sarah Lancashire said: “I’m thrilled to be working with Abi Morgan, Jane Featherstone, SISTER Pictures and Netflix on Witch Hunt. It’s a brilliantly imagined and utterly compelling story, with a deeply complex character at its heart. There’s so much to explore in August, and I can’t wait to begin.”
Abi Morgan, Creator, Writer & Executive Producer said: “I am delighted to be bringing Witch Hunt to Netflix. A dark, yet emotionally charged love story between August Howell, newly released from prison for murdering her children, and the daughter she has left behind, after thirty years inside. I last worked with Sarah Lancashire over 25 years ago. I have been chasing the perfect role for her ever since. This is it. I can’t think of anyone better to embody the terrifying tenderness of ’the Witch of Cambridge.’ It’s gothic horror meets dark thriller laced with modern day witchcraft, raising the question can August ever be forgiven for her crime?”
Jane Featherstone, Executive Producer for SISTER Pictures, said: “What I’ve always loved about Abi’s writing is the humanity she brings to even the darkest stories. Witch Hunt is a fascinating contemporary thriller, with three generations of women at its heart and all the wit and compassion that make her work so distinctive. I’ve been lucky enough to work with Sarah Lancashire over the past few years, and she still surprises me every time. She is extraordinary, and I’m thrilled she’ll be playing August. We are delighted to be collaborating once again with Netflix, whose belief in Abi’s vision and commitment to bold storytelling make them the greatest of partners for this series. We can’t wait to share it with audiences around the world.”
CREATOR, WRITER & EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Abi Morgan (Eric, The Split)
CAST: Sarah Lancashire (Black Doves, Happy Valley)
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Jane Featherstone (Black Doves, The Split)
PRODUCER: Holly Pullinger (Eric, This is Going to Hurt)
PRODUCTION COMPANY: A SISTER Pictures production in association with Little Chick
Jon Creamer
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