Summer filming for TV drama across the UK
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Since the introduction of the high-end TV tax relief in the UK four years ago there has been a surge in production around the nations and regions.
Recently-published stats from the BFI show that inward investment projects and international co-productions made a huge contribution overall to the amount of production spending in the UK in Q1 of this year, accounting for 47% of the total of £145m.
With the help of our online subscription database Production Intelligence (PI), we take a look at some of the scripted TV projects whose cameras are preparing to roll over the summer months.
Production Intelligence subscribers can log in for more details on the shows listed below; non-subscribers can click here to request a free online demo.
Killing Eve
The production company behind The Durrells and SS-GB, Sid Gentle Films, is working on Killing Eve, first detailed on PI in November 2016. The thriller is based on the ‘Villanelle’ novellas by Luke Jennings about Eve, an operative who is tasked with hunting down elegant psychopathic killer Villanelle.
Ordered by BBC America, the drama films over five months and will be delivered as an 8 x 60. PI has listings for the producer, line producer and production designer, among others.
Ordeal by Innocence
The latest Agatha Christie adaptation for the BBC is Ordeal by Innocence from Mammoth Screen. Part of the corporation’s deal to produce seven of the author’s crime stories over four years. The BBC One drama will shoot over eight weeks from mid-July in Scotland.
The period drama is executive produced by Hilary Strong and James Prichard of Agatha Christie Productions Ltd, Karen Thrussell and Damien Timmer for Mammoth Screen and Matthew Read of the BBC. Sarah Phelps, who also adapted Christie’s And Then There Were None and The Witness for the Prosecution, has written the scripts.
Melrose
A major new drama for Sky Atlantic and Showtime starts filming in mid-August and marks another TV outing for Benedict Cumberbatch, who recently completed his starring role in BBC One’s The Child in Time.
Melrose is a 5 x 60 adaptation of the series of semi-autobiographical novels by Edward St Aubyn about an aristocratic playboy dealing with the fallout of childhood adversity. As with The Child in Time, Cumberbatch is also among the executive producers along with SunnyMarch co-founder Adam Ackland and Rachael Horovitz, and Michael Jackson of Two Cities Television.
One Day scribe David Nicholls has penned the series; filming takes place in the UK, the US and the south of France.
PI subscribers should log in for more including the names of the producer, line producer and production co-ordinator.
Summer of Rockets
Stephen Poliakoff’s next TV project as writer/director is Summer of Rockets, set against the backdrop of the Cold War period of the late 1950s.
From Little Island Productions, the series will be delivered to BBC Two as a 6 x 60. It is executive produced by Little Island’s Helen Flint, a long-time collaborator with Poliakoff on projects such as Close to the Enemy, Shooting The Past and Perfect Strangers.
Lucy Richer execs for the BBC. The casting director is listed on PI with plenty more specifics still to come.
The Split
Mid-June sees the start of filming on The Split, the latest drama from writer Abi Morgan. The legal series explores the fast-paced circuit of high-powered female divorce lawyers through the eyes of three sisters and is a 6 x 60 for BBC One.
Jane Featherstone exec produces for Sister Pictures alongside Morgan, Jessica Hobbs – who also directs - and Lucy Richer.
We first listed The Split on PI in August 2016 and have since returned with listings for the casting director, line producer, production designer, production co-ordinator and location manager.
The Innocents
A five-month shoot begins in mid-July on The Innocents, a Netflix original commission. The drama comprises 5 x 60 and hails from New Pictures, makers of Indian Summers and The Missing.
Little is known about the plot or style of the contemporary drama, but PI subscribers can log in for main personnel including the producer, line producer, location manager, production designer and production manager.
The team at New Pictures is also busy with two other major new dramas, Requiem and Rellik, both of which are in production with more details confirmed on PI.
Girlfriends
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Kay Mellor’s first ITV drama for more than ten years, Girlfriends, is in pre-production in readiness to begin filming in early July.
Mellor’s home ground and regular filming location, Leeds is the base for the show with further shooting taking place in York and Harrogate. Zoe Wanamaker, Miranda Richardson and Phyllis Logan star.
We first listed the project – which comes from Mellor’s company Rollem Productions - on PI in October last year and have since reported on key HoDs and shoot dates.
Marcella 2
The second series of ITV’s Marcella is due to begin filming in July with Anna Friel reprising her role as the detective who suffers from fugue state – a condition in which all memory of events disappears. The Bridge creator Hans Rosenfeldt developed the show with Nicola Larder of Buccaneer Media.
Series 2 will comprise 8 x 60 episodes and shoots over four months. PI subscribers can find a full round-up of key production hires on the site.
Benedict Cumberbatch photo via Getty Images/WireImage/Amanda Edwards.
Zoe Wanamaker photo via Getty Images/WireImage/Karwai Tang.
Stephen Poliakoff photo via Getty Images Ent/Tristan Fewings.
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