Drama Quarterly - 100 2022/23

028 . DQ100 2022/23

Drama Quarterly’s guide to the biggest series and the actors, directors and writers making them

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HE HAS UNFINISHED BUSINESS

Features

WELCOME TO THE DQ100

Drama Quarterly editor Michael Pickard introduces this special issue.

TRENDSPOTTING: Book adaptations

Five producers share their thoughts on adapting novels for the screen and discuss why retaining the spirit of a novel is more important than slavish loyalty to plot.

DQ100: Actors

Our pick of 20 actors whose performances are really catching the eye.

DQ100: Directors

Find out who’s behind some of the most eagerly anticipated new projects.

DQ100: Writers

DQ presents a mix of new and established names behind some of the hottest series coming to TV.

DQ100: Series

Our selection of 20 upcoming series worth staying in for.

DQ100: Trends & Trailblazers

The people, places and things that have provided the biggest talking points in television drama in the past year.

End Credits

SCENE STEALERS: Somewhere Boy

FIVE MINUTES WITH: Tony Grisoni

SIX OF THE BEST: Ailish McElmeel

Welcome to

Since it first launched in 2014, Drama Quarterly has sought to curate coverage of the boldest, most exciting and ambitious scripted series coming to television at a time when there is more to watch – and more platforms to watch it on – than ever before.

And if the past 12 months have revealed anything, it’s that not even a temporary pause in production thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic can stop the international drama boom from continuing apace.

DQ aims to help its readers find those shows that stand out from the crowd; the popular hits or the hidden gems that are worth spending hours of their valuable time watching. But DQ isn’t just about which shows are being made. It’s also about how they are made.

Uniquely, DQ aims to go deeper into the production process to explore the craft of making TV drama. That means speaking to actors, writers and directors about not only storylines and characters, but also how they do their jobs, from auditioning for roles and setting up writers rooms to storyboarding, stunts and their experiences on set. DQ also seeks to highlight the work of numerous other aspects

of the drama-making process, from costume, production and make-up design to casting, location scouts, visual effects and music, finding out how those in the business do what they do, both in front of and behind the screen.

DQ also recommends the hottest new shows airing around the world, as well as highlighting some of the actors, writers and directors with new projects to watch out for. Now, following its launch in 2021, that information has once again been compiled to create the DQ100 — our rundown of some of the most exciting, intriguing and highly anticipated projects airing this year, next year and beyond, and some of the key players worth watching out for, both newcomers in their field and some more established names.

Actors featured in the list include Lincoln Younes, the Australian star of Last King of the Cross , Wolf lead Ukweli Roach and Bridget Christie, who is writing and starring in The Change , a show described as Shirley Valentine meets Deliverance … with pigs.

Swedish stars Alexandra Rappaport and Hanna Ardéhn make the list for new dramas Veronika and Leva Life ( Live Life ), respectively, while Icelandic actor Anita Bríem leads As Long as We Live , a series she also wrote that focuses on

DQ editor Michael Pickard introduces this year’s special issue focusing on 100 of the people, shows and trends shaping the TV drama industry in 2022 and beyond.

Lincoln Younes and Tim Roth in Last King of the Cross

Katherine Langford in Jocelyn Moorhouse’s Savage River

the DQ100

a struggling mum stuck in a stale marriage. British stars Rhianne Barreto ( No Escape ) and Nina Toussaint-White ( Witness No 3 ) also feature.

Other actors include Meera Syal, who is bringing her radio show Mrs Sidhu Investigates to the small screen, and Irish breakout star India Mullen, who is fronting mystery drama The Vanishing Triangle

Among the directors to appear in the DQ100 are Sex Education ’s Ben Taylor for his upcoming Disney+ series The Ballad of Renegade Nell ; Tinge Krishnan for another Disneybound series, A Thousand Blows ; and Bafta winner Helen Walsh and her six-part drama The Gathering . Rising Danish filmmaker Jonas Risvig makes the list for his breakout series Drenge ( Boys ), alongside Warwick Thornton ( Firebite ), Shane Meadows ( The Gallows Pole ), Jocelyn Moorhouse ( Savage River ) and Dennie Gordon ( Last Light ).

Andrea Gibb, who is adapting Andrew O’Hagan novel Mayflies for the BBC, features on our list of writers to watch, alongside Joe Murtagh ( The Woman in the Wall ), Daf James ( Lost Boys & Fairies ), Booker Prize-winning author Marlon James ( Get Millie Black ) and Sara Collins ( The Confessions of Frannie Langton ).

Other writers on the list include Abi Morgan, Cash Carraway, Ainslie Clouston and Øystein Karlsen, who is following up Norwegian breakout series Exit with So Long, Marianne , the story of two lonely people who fall in love. Saskia Noort, the Dutch ‘Queen of Suspense,’ makes the list

for her debut TV series Something Stupid , while Jacquelin Perske is behind the highly anticipated adaptation of Heather Morris’s The Tattooist of Auschwitz

Among the trends and trailblazers highlighted in the DQ100 is the spate of sports biopics, tech thrillers and fantasy epics viewers have enjoyed this year, while Silent Witness and Doctor Who were among the shows that enjoyed on-screen reunions. Our list also recognises the trailblazing work of Triple C, which is leading the fight for increased representation of disabled creatives on and off screen.

Looking ahead to 2023 and beyond, our series to look out for include Black Snow, an Australian cold-case mystery drama, and Platform 7, a haunting British thriller based on Louise Doughty’s novel. Festning Norge (The Fortress) is a dystopian Norwegian drama set in a future where the country has isolated itself from the rest of the world by a huge wall, and Oderbruch is a German mystery drama about two cops called upon to investigate the discovery of numerous bodies in a Polish border town. Then there’s Fleishman is in Trouble, in which a star-studded cast – including Jesse Eisenberg and Claire Danes – bring to life Taffy Broadesser-Akner’s novel about a man recently separated from his wife and trying to figure out his place in the world.

With more drama to watch than ever, the DQ100 highlights some of the best new shows to tune in for and the people involved in bringing them to the screen. These are our ones to watch. DQ

Danish director Jonas Risvig

The Confessions of Frannie Langton

Taking it it

The paradoxical challenge of bringing books to the screen is summed up succinctly by The Imaginarium Studios’ Jonathan Cavendish. “All my career, I have done adaptations like Bridget Jones’s Diary ,” says the producer, “reinventing a very well-known book by totally transforming it but keeping it the same.”

By Michael Pickard

Yet in a world of ‘too much TV,’ when broadcasters look for name recognition to bring eyeballs to a new series, it’s no surprise adaptations remain a key source of small-screen storytelling. And though there are now more sources of inspiration than ever – graphic novels and magazine articles as well as real-life stories –books undoubtedly remain the biggest draw.

“When you read a book that instantly presents itself to you as something that would translate to the screen, it’s just too great a temptation not to do it,” says Claire Mundell, creative director of Synchronicity Films ( The Cry ). “Some books just absolutely get inside your heart and your head, and you feel inspired by them and inspired to tell that story on a different canvas, on a screen, whether it’s the small screen or the big screen.”

With an adaptation of Andrew O’Hagan’s Mayflies in post-production for the BBC, Synchronicity is also dramatising Heather Morris novel The Tattooist of Auschwitz for Sky, while Shankari Chandran’s Song of the Sun God is getting the TV treatment too. “First

L-R: The Night Manager, The Flatshare, Strike and The Girl Before are all based on books

As books become increasingly popular as source material for TV drama, five producers share their thoughts on adapting literature for the screen and discuss why retaining the spirit of a novel is more important than slavish loyalty to plot.

liter ar y literary

and foremost, it’s always about the material and how it moves you, how you connect with it and how it motivates you to want to tell the story in a different form,” Mundell continues. “Undoubtedly, having a book – and particularly an acclaimed book that so many other people have responded to emotionally – is a great endorsement for a project because it gives a commissioner a certain amount of comfort that there is a readership out there for the story.”

The Imaginarium Studios, run by cofounders Cavendish and actor/director Andy Serkis, has previously adapted Irish writer Eugene McCabe’s novel Death & Nightingales for the BBC, and this year saw the release on Netflix of The Bastard Son & The Devil Himself

– a take on Sally Green novel Half Bad. Set in a world of witches, it follows Nathan, the illegitimate son of a dangerous blood witch who is struggling to step out of his father’s shadow.

Cavendish describes the eight-part series, created by Joe Barton ( Giri/Haji ), as a “loose” take on Green’s YA novel. The drama follows the spirit of the story but “we changed a lot,” he says. “We’ve succeeded in reinventing it and keeping the spirit of it, but keeping all the original fans very much on board and loving the changes and the adjustments we’ve made.”

When it comes to adaptations, “the idea of taking something in one world [a book] and taking it into another world [a TV series] can be a disaster, but it can also be something

that people love,” Cavendish says. “People have much more excitement and enthusiasm for new things than lots of streamers and distributors think, but it is unquestionably now more difficult to publicise and get out something that’s completely new, for reasons I don’t fully understand. But if something has a brand, that immediately gets your attention. We as filmmakers, as story creators on screen, just have to be very, very wary of that.”

The Ink Factory is best known for television adaptations of John le Carré novels The Night Manager and The Little Drummer Girl. Both faithful and more expansive adaptations of le Carré’s catalogue are now in development at the company, as are other projects such as The Plotters, a Korean-language television adaptation of Un Su Kim’s novel, with Soo Hugh (Pachinko) attached as creator; and a series based on the debut novel by Ghanian-American author Yasmin Angoe, thriller Her Name is Knight.

“I don’t think there is a right or wrong approach. There are lots of ways to approach adaptation,” says The Ink Factory creative director Michele Wolkoff. “The key is to find and capture the essence of the book, what we think of as the ‘essential why.’ Why are we telling this story? Who are the characters we care about and what are themes that resonate for us and for our audience? And making sure the answers to those questions come at least as much from the heart as the mind. Successfully translating a book for the screen shouldn’t just be adaptive; it needs to be additive.”

Miriam Brent, head of development at production company 42 ( The Girl Before ), agrees that the best adaptations stay true to the essence of their source material. “That doesn’t necessarily mean slavishly adhering to the plot,” she observes, “but there’s something about the heart and soul of the books that you can still capture when you’re translating something from book to screen, which is more important, in a way.”

The Flatshare was adapted from Beth O’Leary’s novel

Synchronicity is bringing Andrew O’Hagan’s Mayflies to the BBC

Netflix’s Sally Green adaptation The Bastard Son & The Devil Himself

By thinking of the author’s intentions when they originally wrote the book, Brent believes an adaptation can also satisfy fans of the novel –perhaps the toughest critics of any adaptation. “But ultimately it’s not the same media,” the exec adds. “It has to work episodically. It’s a completely different structural undertaking. That’s why it’s far more important to remain true to the essence of the characters than it is to be making wholesale changes to the plot.”

Brent is an executive producer on The Flatshare , the 42-produced series for Paramount+ based on Beth O’Leary’s novel about two 20-somethings who agree to share a flat without meeting each other, communicating only by Post-it notes. “It broadly stays true to the structure of the book and the character arcs,” she says. “The great thing about Beth’s writing is she has this wonderful almost [Jane] Austen-esque technique whereby she’ll sow lots of seeds of social commentary that are really fun to then explore on the wider canvas of TV.

“On the surface, The Flatshare is this delightfully fun romcom, essentially. But look a little deeper and there are actually some quite challenging subjects around power dynamics

and romance and relationships, so it allowed us to subvert those expectations of romcoms while still having fun.”

Mundell jokes that while she would like to make a romcom, Sychronicity projects often have a social conscience and something to say about the state of the world and what’s happening in it. “With Song of the Sun God , there hasn’t been an exploration on the small screen in drama of the atrocities of the Sri Lankan Civil War. That book really spoke to us on an emotional level as a way to tell a family saga set against that backdrop that could bring that conflict to life,” she says.

“With The Tattooist, that book is a phenomenon. It’s a timeless piece in many ways, because of the story it tells, but the unique thing about it is that it’s a love story set in a concentration camp. It’s a massive challenge to pull off. Unfortunately, the rise of anti-Semitism continues unabated. Although it was a period piece, it has a lot to say about the contemporary world we live in.”

Meanwhile, Ruth Kenley-Letts has been overseeing adaptations of the Strike crime novels, written by Harry Potter creator JK Rowling (as Robert Galbraith), since The Cuckoo’s Calling first aired in 2017. This year will see an adaptation of the fifth book in the series, Troubled Blood, debut on the BBC and HBO, with the story following private detective Comoran Strike (Tom Burke) and his partner Robin Ellacott (Holliday Grainger) as they delve into a missing persons case that brings them together with a psychotic serial killer.

Kenley-Letts would likely have felt immense pressure to get that first adaptation right. But after more than five years working on the series, “I know what feels right and what feels wrong for that show,” she says.

The exec has certainly worked on her fair share of adaptations in her role as CEO of both Brontë Film & TV, the company set up to produce projects based on Rowling’s novels, and Snowed-In Productions, which is responsible for series such as The Midwich Cuckoos , You Don’t Know Me and Too Close Its latest adaptation will see Sophie Turner ( Game of Thrones ) star in Joan, the story of notorious jewel thief Joan Hannington, based on Hannington’s memoirs.

“I wouldn’t like to be a commissioner because you must have great things pitched to you every day, and you can only do so many,” she says. “But I do believe that if a story is good and strong, and if it makes me sit up, then it’s going to make somebody else sit up because I’m just like everybody else. I go home at night and say, ‘What’s on telly tonight?’ I watch what interests me and I think I’m the same as everybody else. I just always feel if I’m interested in this story, the chances are lots of other people will be.”

With Rowling as an executive producer on the Strike adaptations, Kenley-Letts has fostered a close relationship with the author, who reads all the scripts and provides notes >

Ultimately, it’s not the same media. It has to work episodically. It’s a completely different structural undertaking. That’s why it’s far more important to remain true to the essence of the characters than it is to be making wholesale changes to the plot.

Miriam Brent 42

Snowed-In Productions’ novel adaptations include You Don’t Know Me

translations.

– and also ensures the dramatisations don’t diverge too far from her own plots and the seeds she has sown for later instalments of the planned 10-book series.

“If we added something or changed something that didn’t seem like a big deal to us, she’d say, ‘I’d rather you didn’t do that because I’m actually going to be doing that in book eight.’ It’s that kind of detail,” Kenley-Letts explains. “She really is a fabulous collaborator. She gives us the freedom [we need] unless it’s stepping on her toes with future books, because she doesn’t ever want to have to write books with the TV shows in mind. She never wants us to be jumping ahead in any way.”

At Sychronicity, Andrew O’Hagan is an exec producer on the two-part adaptation of his novel Mayflies, while The Tattooist of Auschwitz author Heather Morris is a consultant on the Sky series based on her book. Creative director Mundell believes the landscape for authors has changed since she first started adapting books for the screen and is continuing to evolve.

people working together on a set. We want to be partners with the authors as we go on that journey together, while also taking their lead on how much, or how little, they want to be part of the process.”

The exec advises against being “overly precious,” however. “While you need to honour the source material and the expectation of fans, the adapter needs to have their own vision to be able to translate the story to screen. Adaptations rarely work when they are literal translations. We love being surprised by new and fresh takes on our IP and are excited by new perspectives.”

According to Cavendish, before taking on an adaptation, everyone involved should understand that not everything that works on the page is going to work on screen. “The people who are doing it have to be very clear about what is in the material that they love and why that is relevant and interesting and fun, and they should be prepared to reinvent other bits of it,” he says. “I don’t think there are any rules, other than to look at the source material from a completely different perspective, because that’s what the viewer is doing.”

The Ink

The Ink Factory

“More authors are jumping into screenwriting and adapting their own material, while some authors prefer to have a bit of distance from it. But we’re always very respectful with authors. It’s important to us that the authors go on the journey with us,” she says. “With The Cry , [author] Helen FitzGerald was across the whole process, but she didn’t want to read any scripts. She wanted to see it come to life on screen. Andrew’s been different. He’s read all of the drafts of the scripts and he’s given his thoughts and his input, which has been really valuable. It just depends on the nature of the author and what’s important to them.”

The Flatshare author O’Leary has been “incredibly generous and trusting,” says Brent of 42’s take on the 2019 novel. “We kept her informed. But she was happy to let us do our side of it, which was great.”

Meanwhile, working for an author-based company means The Ink Factory is always very respectful of novelists’ work and their interest in the process. “It’s often exciting for an author to see their book adapted for the screen, but it can also be scary,” Wolkoff notes. “Writing a book is an intensely individual process, while making a feature film or TV series is inherently collective. You go from one person writing alone in a room to hundreds of

want to rea come to He’s read a his th valua the author The Fla of 42’s tak informed. B side of it, w Meanwh company m o in the p autho scree note indi feat coll writ

While storylines can be played with, improved or changed, Kenley-Letts says strong characters are the key to adaptations. “I don’t mind if things are changed, but if you lose the spirit of the book then I wonder why you pick something in the first place. Each project has its own challenges and you have to work through those.”

Though readers may welcome with trepidation the news that their favourite book is getting the small-screen treatment, adaptations won’t be going out of fashion any time soon as compelling stories, together with an in-built audience and name-recognition, help turn commissioners’ heads.

“That allows for so much potential on the marketing side of things but, primarily, a good story will always win out,” Brent says. “If it’s a great book, people are going to want to come to it, for better or worse.”

Mundell adds: “I always say to authors that they can’t lose, really, because if the show is a big success, everyone will generally attribute a lot of that to the underlying source material and say, ‘It was a great book, of course it’s a great show.’ And if it’s not a great success, they can blame us. They can’t lose.”

“

While you need to honour the source material and the expectation of fans, the adapter needs to have their own vision to be able to translate the story to screen. Adaptations rarely work when they are literal translations.

Michele Wolkoff

JK Rowling is heavily involved in the series based on her Strike books

Actors 100 100

Actors

LILY ALLEN

POP STAR ALLEN, BEST KNOWN FOR CHART HITS SUCH AS SMILE, LDN AND SOMEWHERE ONLY WE KNOW, will make her screen acting debut in Sky original comedy Dreamland Starring opposite Freema Agyeman (Doctor Who), Allen plays Mel, a woman who makes an unexpected reappearance in the lives of her three sisters, with her very presence threatening to destabilise the entire family.

CHARITHRA CHANDRAN

ALREADY A FAMILIAR FACE TO VIEWERS OF ALEX RIDER AND BRIDGERTON (pictured), Chandran is stepping out as the lead in the upcoming adaptation of Song of the Sun God, the bestselling novel by Shankari Chandran (no relation). The actor will play Leela in a contemporary emotional thriller that explores the loves, lives and misdemeanours of three generations of a close-knit Sri Lankan family, set against the backdrop of the country’s three-decade civil war. Leela

is a young Australian woman living in London, disconnected from her own culture and unaware of long-held family secrets until she embarks on a journey across three continents to find her lost aunt and uncover the shocking reason for her disappearance. Charithra Chandran will also be an associate producer on the project.

I U R A TOKO MIURA

MTHE BREAKOUT STAR OF OSCAR-WINNING JAPANESE

OKOTFILM DRIVE MY CAR, Miura has long been a familiar face on television in Japan but is now set to land on the international stage with Elpis . The Kansai TV series, which had its world premiere at Cannes event Mipcom in October, is inspired by real cases of false accusations. It follows Ena (Masami Nagasawa), a former network news anchor whose star has faded because of scandal and now helms a late-night magazine show. When rookie director Takuro (Gordon Maeda) begins to doubt a death row conviction, he partners with Ena, make-up artist Cherry (Miura) and star reporter Shouichi (Ryohei Suzuki) to investigate the state-wide conspiracy that emerges.

LYNN VAN ROYEN

(pictured) and psychological thriller Tabula Rasa among her credits. Now she’s stepping into sciencefiction with Arcadia, an eight-part series that imagines a world where people’s rights and privileges in society are determined by their citizen score. The story focuses on

four sisters, who all have excellent scores and are living the Arcadia dream. But when their father breaks the law to keep their scores high, he is banished and the entire family is placed under permanent surveillance, with their scores drastically lowered. Van Royen’s other credits include drama series The Team, De Dag (The Day) and De Twaalf (The Twelve).

MIGUEL BERNARDEAU

SPANISH STAR BERNARDEAU WILL BE FAMILIAR AROUND THE WORLD TO FANS OF NETFLIX’S HIT SERIES ELITE (pictured), in which he played hot-headed Guzmán for four seasons. He is now set to cement his star power in a pair of new series: La Ultima for Disney+ and Zorro for Amazon’s Prime Video. In the former, Bernardeau plays an aspiring boxer called Diego, who is reunited with his former high-school classmate, wannabe singer Candela (Aitana Ocaña), in a story about love, courage and empowerment. Zorro, meanwhile, sees Bernardeau take the headline role as Don Diego de la Vega, a landowner and masked vigilante known as Zorro in a series set in 1830s LA and described as a modern retelling of the classic story.

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Bernardeau will also be seen in 1899, an epic mystery thriller from the creators of German Netflix drama Dark

BELGIAN STAR VAN ROYEN COUNTS SERIES SUCH AS SUPERNATURAL CRIME DRAMA BEAU SÉJOUR

ALEXANDRA RAPAPORT

FOR MORE THAN 25 YEARS, RAPAPORT HAS BEEN A HOUSEHOLD NAME IN SWEDEN thanks to a prolific screen career that includes leading roles in series such as Springfloden (Spring Tide), The Sandhamn Murders, Heder (Honour) and Gåsmamman, in which she plays a mother living a carefree life until she is drawn into Stockholm’s criminal underworld to save her family. She will now take the lead in Viaplay original drama Veronika, a series pitched as a psychological drama with a supernatural twist. Rapaport plays the title character, an introverted police officer and mother-of-two with a complex past and a drug addiction. When she sees a dead boy in a hospital parking lot, further visions convince her she can see the victims of unsolved crimes and that her past is the key to catching a killer still on the loose.

ROACH

EARLIER THIS YEAR, BRITISH ACTOR ROACH APPEARED IN SKY ORIGINAL DRAMA THE MIDWICH CUCKOOS (pictured), playing a new resident of the titular town that is plunged into panic after a mysterious 12hour blackout. Those affected seemingly return to normal life, until it emerges that every woman of child-bearing age inside the blackout zone has inexplicably fallen pregnant. Roach has also been tapped to star in Wolf , a forthcoming BBC drama from the makers of Sherlock and Dracula . He will play DI Jack Caffery, a police of fi cer trying to right the wrongs of others while obsessed with the neighbour he believes murdered his 10-yearold brother in the 1990s. The actor’s other credits include Annika , Blindspot and Humans.

HANNA ARDÉHN

SWEDISH ACTOR ARDÉHN’S BREAKTHROUGH CAME IN THE COMPELLING NETFLIX ORIGINAL DRAMA STÖRST AV ALLT (Quicksand), in which she played Maja, a high-school student put on trial for murder following a shooting at a Stockholm school. Now she is partnering with co-stars Tina Pour Davoy and Doreen Ndagire for Viaplay young-adult series Leva Life (Live Life, pictured), which follows three friends facing a devastating turn of events after 24-year-old Nora (Ardéhn) is diagnosed with cancer. But despite gruelling chemotherapy sessions and the constant fear of death, Nora refuses to give up on life.

FOR TWO SEASONS AND EIGHT EPISODES OF BBC RADIO 4 DRAMA MRS SIDHU INVESTIGATES, Syal

(The Kumars at No 42) voiced the title character, an Indian ‘aunty’ and chef with a taste for crime. The actor will now reprise the role on screen in a series commissioned by streamer Acorn TV. In the four-parter, Mrs Sidhu – a sharp investigator with an instinct for the truth, a warmth

with people and a persistent sense for nosiness – must juggle her new catering business with wrangling her wayward son and serving up justice to those who think they are above the law. Her forays into crime also lead to an unofficial partnership with world-weary DCI Burton (Craig Parkinson), who must reluctantly accept that together they are an unbeatable crime-fighting duo.

MEERA SYAL PETER MULLAN

CURRENTLY PLAYING DWARF KING DURIN IN THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RINGS OF POWER, Scottish actor and filmmaker Mullan’s recent credits also include The North Water, The Underground Railroad, Westworld, Mum and Ozark. The award-winning actor will next star in Payback, a six-part ITV drama from executive producer Jed Mercurio (Line of Duty), in which he plays notorious crime lord Cal Morris, who becomes the target of a perilous police operation led by Lexie Noble (Morven Christie). Unaware her husband has been laundering Cal’s illegal earnings, Lexie is soon forced to work for him as the police net tightens around them.

FANS OF ACCLAIMED DRAMA NORMAL PEOPLE MAY RECOGNISE MULLEN FROM HER ROLE AS PEGGY, who enters the lives of protagonists Marianne and Connell when they both start to attend Trinity College in Dublin. The Irish actor’s credits also include Red Rock, Vikings, Krypton, Women on the Verge, Into the Badlands and season three of Brassic, a comedy-drama following a group of friends in a forgotten corner of Northern England. She can now be seen in The Peripheral, the new futuristic tech drama from Westworld creators Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy, before she takes the lead in The Vanishing Triangle, commissioned by Virgin Media Television in Ireland and US streamer Sundance Now. Mullen plays reporter Lisa Wallance, who is working in the face of prejudice and police incompetence to investigate the mysterious murder of her own mother nearly 20 years earlier.

INDIA MULLEN

ALAQUA COX

COX, A NATIVE AMERICAN ACTOR, BECAME AN INSTANT GLOBAL STAR WHEN SHE JOINED THE MARVEL CINEMATIC UNIVERSE IN 2021 as the unforgiving Maya Lopez, a character who first appeared in Disney+ show Hawkeye. In that series, Maya was revealed to be a deaf gang leader who was determined to seek revenge against the person she believed killed her father. Cox, who is deaf in real life, is now taking centre stage in Echo (pictured), a Marvel Studios series coming to Disney+ in 2023. This origin story revisits Maya, whose ruthless behaviour in New York City catches up with her in her home town, where she must face the past and reconnect with her Native American roots and community if she has any hope of moving forward.

A SMALL-SCREEN VETERAN AFTER RACKING UP A HOST OF CREDITS IN THE PAST DECADE – and still only 30 – Younes will take the lead in Paramount+ original series Last King of the Cross. The Grand Hotel and Tangle star will play John Ibrahim, one of Australia’s most infamous nightclub moguls, in a series inspired by Ibrahim’s autobiography of the same name. The story tracks Ibrahim’s rise from poverty-stricken immigrant with no money, no education and no prospects to ruler of the nightlife in Sydney’s Kings Cross.

FOLLOWING ROLES IN GHOSTS, IT’S KEVIN AND CARDINAL BURNS, Christie has landed her own series on UK broadcaster Channel 4. The comedian, actor and writer will write and star in The Change , a show pitched as “ Shirley Valentine meets Deliverance . With pigs.” She plays Linda, a 50-yearold working-class married mother-of-two who is having an existential crisis –but later discovers it’s the menopause. Dusting off her old Triumph motorbike, she sets off alone to the Forest of Dean in search of an identity and purpose, meeting an array of eccentric locals along the way.

ANÍTA BRIEM BRIEM

(pictured), Icelandic star Briem will head the cast of local broadcaster Channel 2’s As Long As We Live, which she also created and wrote. Based on her own experiences, the show stars Bríem as Beta, a former pop queen and now struggling

mum stuck in a stale marriage. When a young man becomes a part of their household and starts introducing Beta and her husband to flirting games, she is led down a path of lust and excitement that reignites their relationship but also strips their marriage to the core and threatens its entire existence.

KEENAN EA

EARNED A BAFTA

NOMINATION FOR HER ROLE IN LITTLE BOY

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, a true crime drama about the murder of 11-year-old Rhys Jones in Liverpool in 2007, in which she played Rhys’s mother Melanie. Keenan has since had roles in shows such as Deep Three Families and Showtrial (pictured), in which she portrayed a cer investigating a murder case that captures the attention of the world’s media. In her next role, Keenan will play cer, only this time she is joining one of the most popular crime dramas on British television, ITV’s Unforgotten. She fth season of the show as DCI Jessica James, a new partner for the returning DI Sunny Khan (Sanjeev Bhaskar). The role sees Keenan follow in the footsteps of Nicola Walker (DI Cassie Summers), who left the

Keenan follow in the foo Walker Cassie Summ series after season four.

SINÉAD KEENAN

ONE OF AUSTRALIA’S BIGGEST STARS, Dusseldorp takes the lead in forthcoming ABC Australia series Bay of Fires, which began production this summer. The eight-part crime thriller is set in Tasmania and centres on Stella Heinekken (Dusseldorp), whose fall from grace is as spectacular as it is life-threatening. Betrayed by her own company and in immediate danger, the single mother moves with her two young children to Misery Reef, where she soon learns the secrets of this tiny, crimeridden community. Dusseldorp, co-creator and a producer on the series, has also recently been seen in Wentworth, Jack Irish, Stateless, A Place to Call Home and Janet King

BEST KNOWN FOR HER ROLE IN PERIOD DRAMA THE TUDORS

IRISH ACTOR KEENAN

RHIANNE BARRETO

BARRETO IS AMONG BRITAIN’S BRIGHTEST RISING TALENTS Her fi rst major role came in the fi rst season of thriller Hanna , before she took the lead in Stephen Merchant’s recent crime comedy The Outlaws (pictured), which has since returned for a second run. Next up is a starring role in one of streamer

Paramount+’s fi rst UK original series. No Escape follows deeply bonded best friends Lana (Abigail Lawrie) and Kitty (Barreto), who are on the run from the UK police. Together they fi nd refuge on a romantic yacht called The Blue, crewed by a group of enigmatic, beautiful people who sail through South-East Asia living a life of endless beaches, ocean and parties. But The Blue harbours dark secrets, and when greed and lust drive the crew to make some terrible moral compromises, it leads to the death of one of their own. The paradise and escape the girls thought they had found turns into a nightmare as Lana and Kitty fi nd themselves far from home and in terrible danger.

ROBERT CARLYLE

ROLES IN FILMS AND TV SERIES INCLUDING THE FULL MONTY, THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH, ONCE UPON A TIME AND COBRA (pictured) have made the Scottish actor one of the most recognisable stars on screen. One of his most iconic parts is that of Begbie, which he played in 1996 Danny Boyle film Trainspotting and its 2017 sequel. Carlyle is now set to reprise the incendiary role once more in The Blade Artist, a television adaptation of Trainspotting author Irvine Welsh’s novel of the same name. The story picks up 20 years after that first film, at a time when Begbie – now Jim Francis – has a seemingly perfect life living in California. But when he returns to Scotland for the funeral of a son he hardly knew, he is forced to confront his dark past on the streets of Edinburgh.

HAVING STARTED OUT IN UK SOAPS SUCH AS AND EMMERDALE HOSPITAL DRAMA CITY, Toussaint-White has more recently made her name in series such as Bodyguard, The Feed and The Sister as comedy GameFace

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For her latest role, she took the lead in Channel 5’s four-part thriller Witness No 3 in which she plays Jodie, a single mum and a hairdresser who, while at work, momentarily sees two men walking on the other side of the road. When it emerges she has seen a killer and his victim moments before a murder, she becomes the key witness that police need to put a local gang leader behind bars – until a terrifying campaign of intimidation attempts to silence her.

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PHILIP BARANTINI

AN ACTOR WITH CREDITS INCLUDING BAND OF BROTHERS, CHERNOBYL, TIME AND THE RESPONDER, Barantini recently moved into directing, most notably with a single-take short fi lm in 2019 called Boiling Point , which starred Stephen Graham as a talented chef at a restaurant where chaos reigns behind its fl ash façade. That short was notably transformed into an intense, attention-grabbing full-length feature last year – again shot in one take –and now Barantini is reuniting with co-writer James Cummings to bring the story to TV. Barantini will direct the fi rst two episodes of the BBC fi ve-parter, which will pick up events six months after the fi lm. It focuses on former sous chef Carly (Vinette Robinson), who is now head chef at her own restaurant.

Directors 100

FRANCESCA ARCHIBUGI

AWARD-WINNING ITALIAN FILMMAKER

ARCHIBUGI HAS PICKED UP PRIZES IN CANNES, VENICE AND SAN SEBASTIÁN for titles such as L’albero delle pere , La stana storia di Banda Sonora , Mignon è partita and Il grande cocomero . On television, she co-created and directed all six episodes of family drama Romanzo famigliare , which aired in 2018. Now she is helming eight-part period drama La Storia , which is based on Elsa Morante’s novel of the same name, with Archibugi overseeing fi lming in Rome, Naples and Lazio.

Jasmine Trinca stars as Ida, a single mother of two sons who hides her Jewish heritage and fi ghts against poverty and persecution during the end of the Second World War in Nazi-occupied Italy. Valerio Mastandrea and Asia Argento also star.

Barantini (right) with Stephen Graham on the Boiling Point set

Photo by Christian Black

JOE WRIGHT

WRIGHT IS NO STRANGER TO PERIOD DRAMA, having shot a host of acclaimed feature films including Atonement, Pride & Prejudice, Anna Karenina, Darkest Hour and last year’s Cyrano. Now, after starting his career in television (Nature Boy, Bob & Rose) and with an episode of Black Mirror (Nosedive) on his CV, he is returning to the small screen to direct M: Son of the Century – a Sky original series based on Antonio Scurati’s book about the birth of fascism in Italy and Benito Mussolini’s rise to power. Wright will direct all eight episodes of the series, which will star Luca Marinelli and is written by Stefano Bises (Gomorrah) and Davide Serino (1992).

MARLEE MATLIN

MATLIN IS A US ACTOR MOST RECOGNISABLE FROM ROLES IN THE WEST WING, THE L WORD, PICKET FENCES, THE PRACTICE AND LAW & ORDER: SVU. Back in 1987, she became the youngest winner of the Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role for her work in Children of a Lesser God, while she also starred in 2021 feature Coda, winner of Best Picture at this year’s Oscars, which told the story of a young woman who is the only hearing member of a deaf family. Matlin is now set to make her directorial debut on Fox’s upcoming anthology drama Accused – becoming one of the first female deaf directors in television – on an episode that features a deaf woman who becomes a surrogate and commits a crime of advocacy and protection.

FROM STARTING OUT ON BRITISH SOAPS HOLLYOAKS, EASTENDERS AND EMMERDALE, Ebohon-Green has gone on to direct episodes of beloved series such as Father Brown, Call the Midwife, Grantchester, Vera and Outlander

After working on the second season of Welsh crime drama The Pact, she is now filming the third block of Candice Carty-Williams’ highly anticipated music drama Champion. Coming to the BBC and Netflix, it tells the story of rap sensation Bosco Champion, who is home from prison and ready to dominate the music industry once more. But when his younger sister Vita’s own talent is discovered by Bosco’s rival, Bulla, she steps out of her brother’s shadow to become a performer in her own right – a decision that sets the Champion siblings against one another.

BEN TAYLOR

SEX EDUCATION AND CATASTROPHE DIRECTOR TAYLOR HAS MOVED TO DISNEY+ , where he is steering The Ballad of Renegade Nell with a cast led by Louisa Harland ( Derry Girls ), Nick Mohammed ( Ted Lasso ), Adrian Lester ( Trigger Point ) and Joely Richardson ( Nip/Tuck ). Written by Sally

Wainwright ( Gentleman Jack ), the series is described as an action and fantasy adventure that follows Nell (Harland), a quick-witted and courageous young woman who fi nds herself framed for murder and unexpectedly becomes the most notorious highwaywoman in 18th century England.

TINGE KRISHNAN

WHILE ACTOR AND EXECUTIVE PRODUCER STEPHEN GRAHAM IS IN THE GYM PREPARING FOR HIS ROLE IN PERIOD BOXING DRAMA A THOUSAND BLOWS, it’s Krishnan who will be behind the camera as lead director on the Disney+ series. Created and written by Steven Knight ( Peaky Blinders ), the show is set in 1880s Victorian London, where best friends Hezekiah and Alec from Jamaica fi nd themselves thrust into the vibrant and violent melting pot of the city’s post-industrial revolution East End. Drawn into the criminal underbelly of the thriving boxing scene, Hezekiah meets Mary Carr, leader of The Forty Elephants – the notorious all-female London gang – as they battle for survival on the streets, while he also becomes locked in an intense rivalry with Sugar Goodson (Graham), a seasoned and dangerous boxer, which spills out way beyond the ring. Krishnan comes to the series on the back of episodes of WeCrashed , Temple , The Mosquito Coast , Industry and The Feed

JOHANS

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DANISH FILMMAKER JOHANSEN HAS BEEN INVOLVED IN MAKING SOME OF DENMARK’S BIGGEST TELEVISION EXPORTS OF RECENT YEARS, from Borgen and comedy Bedrag (Follow the ) and period show Sygeplejeskolen ). He is now shooting Oxen, an adaptation of the book series of the same name by Jens Henrik Hensen. It tells the story of war veteran Niels Oxen (Jacob Lohmann), a former special forces soldier who must conquer his inner demons when he is framed for a series

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LUCY FORBES

FROM THE END OF THE F***ING WORLD TO IN MY SKIN, for which she won a Welsh Bafta award, Forbes has helmed some of the best British TV of recent years. Her most recent job was working as lead director on This is Going to Hurt, the BBC and AMC adaptation of Adam Kay’s memoir

about life as a junior doctor working in the National Health Service (NHS). The series stars Ben Whishaw as Adam, who is juggling his personal life with a hectic job on the labour ward and meets Shruti (Ambika Mod), who is similarly struggling with the demands of the role.

BRITISH DIRECTOR BATHURST MOST RECENTLY WORKED AS LEAD DIRECTOR ON WESTERN SERIES BILLY THE KID AND VIDEO GAME ADAPTATION HALO, while his other notable credits include His Dark Materials, Peaky Blinders, the first episode of dystopian anthology Black Mirror and Criminal Justice. He is now attached to lead The Winter King, a 10-part historical drama based on Bernard Cornwell’s Warlord Chronicles. Produced by Bad Wolf (His Dark Materials, A Discovery of Witches), the series offers a revisionist take on the Arthurian legend, following Arthur Pendragon as he evolves from outcast son to legendary warrior and leader in the fifth century – a time before Britain was united and was instead a land of warring factions and tribes.

OTTO BATHURST

ANEIL KARIA

FRESH FROM THIS YEAR’S OSCARS, WHERE HE WON BEST LIVE-ACTION SHORT FILM FOR THE LONG GOODBYE – a collaboration with The Night Of star Riz Ahmed – Karia is now set to helm The Gold. A BBC and Paramount+ coproduction, the six-part series will dramatise the true events surrounding the robbery of the Brink’s-Mat security depot near London’s Heathrow Airport, when six men stumbled across gold bullion worth £26m (US$32.3m) in 1983. Karia directs alongside Lawrence Gough, while the cast includes Hugh Bonneville, Dominic Cooper, Charlotte Spencer, Tom Cullen, Emun Elliott, Sean Harris, Ellora Torchia and Stefanie Martini. Karia’s previous work includes Lovesick, Pure and Top Boy

Å N S M Å N S S O N MÅNS MÅNSSON

THE AWARD-WINNING SWEDISH DIRECTOR IS PART OF THE CREATIVE TEAM BEHIND AN AMBITIOUS FINNISH SERIES CALLED ESTONIA that will capture the deadliest civil maritime disaster in recent European history – the sinking of MS Estonia in 1994, which killed more than 850 people. Shooting locations have included Turkey, Finland, Sweden and Estonia, while the cast and crew also filmed at indoor water stages in Belgium to tell a story that follows the tragedy through the eyes of survivors, rescuers, family members, politicians, investigators and journalists. Månsson, whose credits include Chernobyl and Snabba Cash, directs alongside Finland’s Juuso Syrjä.

NIKOLAJ LIE KAAS LIE

AS AN ACTOR, LIE KAAS WILL BE FAMILIAR TO FANS OF DANISH DRAMA FOR HIS ROLES IN BEDRAG (FOLLOW THE MONEY) AND FORHØRET, as well as British historical drama Britannia. He is now working behind the camera on Agent, a comedy-drama series pitched as a selfaware story about an agent working in the Danish lm and entertainment business. Lie Kass also writes the TV2 series, which stars Esben Smed as Joe,

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CORRIE CHEN

ONE OF AUSTRALIA’S BIGGEST RISING TALENTS, Chen has worked on projects in both comedy and drama, directing Homecoming Queens, Mustangs FC, Five Bedrooms and Sisters. She has recently directed episodes of SeaChange and Wentworth and was the sole director on New Gold Mountain, a historical drama telling the untold story of the Chinese-Australian experience during the Australian Gold Rush. Her latest project is Bad Behaviour, a four-part series for streamer Stan. It focuses on a star student who arrives for a year of character building at the wilderness campus of an exclusive girls’ boarding school, only to find herself in a dormitory surrounded by the most volatile and the most vulnerable. The series promises to delve into the darker side of the school experience and how its effects can carry over into adulthood.

who must balance chasing his dreams, managing his clients and looking after his 10-year-old daughter, while things have a habit of not going to plan. Actors including Sidse Babett Knudsen, Dar Salim, Ulrich Thomsen and Lars Ranthe also star as heightened versions of themselves.

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Lie Kaas (left) directing Esben Smed on the Agent set

OVER THE PAST FIVE YEARS, MOORHOUSE HAS HELMED SOME OF THE BIGGEST SERIES IN AUSTRALIAN TELEVISION, from Wanted and Les Norton to Stateless and Wakefield, while her feature credits include The Dressmaker, starring Kate Winslet. For her latest project, Savage River, Moorhouse shot all six episodes of an ABC Australia crime drama that promises a compelling and suspenseful mystery set in a small town. The story introduces Miki Anderson (Katherine Langford), who returns to her hometown in rural Victoria after eight years in prison and is determined to finally move on with her life. But the close-knit community of Savage River is not about to let her forget the past that easily. When a murder rocks the town, Miki immediately becomes the focus of everyone’s suspicion – and as the police close in, she sets out to prove her innocence, uncovering longburied secrets that will cast doubt on everything she thought she knew.

JOCELYN MOORHOUSE

JONAS RISVIG

JUST 28 YEARS OLD, AWARD-WINNING DANISH DIRECTOR RISVIG HAS HAD A PROLIFIC CAREER TO DATE, working on a number of documentaries and local young-adult series such as Centrum and Flokken. He has now channelled his own experiences of growing up in a small town for Viaplay series Drenge (Boys). Risvig has created and directs the eight-part ensemble drama, which focuses on the strong bond between 10 young men in Silkeborg who grew up singing together in a church choir and would then meet up to push their limits and test the forbidden pleasures of adult life. But when one of the boys drowns under mysterious circumstances, their unity and loyalty are put to the ultimate test. In addition, Risvig has directed the first season of Salsa, a YA series that began airing on Denmark’s DR this summer.

SHANE MEADOWS

MEADOWS HAS WON PLAUDITS FOR HIS OWN BRAND OF GRITTY, GROUNDED DRAMAS and his ability to coax authentic, emotionally charged performances from his cast. He is best known for 2006 feature This is England and its television spin-offs, This is England 86, 88 and 90, all of which he also wrote. He was on double duty again on 2019 miniseries The Virtues, and is also writer and director on his upcoming BBC series The Gallows Pole. Meadows’ first period drama, it is based on the

novel of the same name by Benjamin Myers and fictionalises the true story of the rise and fall of David Hartley and the Cragg Vale Coiners. As the industrial revolution looms in 18th century Yorkshire, the plot follows the enigmatic Hartley (played by Michael Socha) as he assembles a gang of weavers and landworkers to embark upon a revolutionary criminal enterprise that will capsize the economy and become the biggest fraud in British history.

DENNIE GORDON

FROM STARTING HER CAREER ON SHOWS SUCH AS CHICAGO HOPE, PARTY OF FIVE AND DAWSON’S CREEK, Gordon has built a reputation as a prolific television director. Other credits include Burn Notice, Goliath, Waco, Jack Ryan For All Mankind. She most recently filmed all five episodes of thriller Last Light, based on Alex Scarrow’s novel of the same name. In the series, petro-chemist Andy Nielsen (Matthew Fox)’s worst fears are realised when the world’s oil supply is disrupted, setting off a chain reaction that affects everything from transportation to law enforcement. With his family now separated around the globe, each member will sacrifice everything to find one another.

HELEN WALSH HELEN

A BAFTA BREAKTHROUGH BRIT AWARD WINNER IN 2016 FOR HER DIRECTORIAL DEBUT THE VIOLATORS, for which she also wrote the screenplay, Walsh is now taking up dual roles again for Channel 4 drama The Gathering. The six-part drama centres on a violent attack on a teenage girl during a rave on a tidal islet and explores a group of teens from disparate backgrounds, each of whom could have committed the crime, as well as their parents who all have equal cause for suspicion. Walsh describes the series as “a twisty, state-of-the-nation take on Philip Larkin’s notorious ‘they fuck you up’ observation about parents and kids,” with a series that asks, “Who is really to blame when our kids fuck up?”

clude ack and st f dy worst he ng a chain ything from W A R W I C K T H O R N T O N WARWICK THORNTON

ONE OF AUSTRALIA’S MOST CELEBRATED INDIGENOUS VOICES IN FILM AND TELEVISION, Thornton’s credits include award-winning features Sweet Country and Sampson & Delilah. On the small screen, he recently helmed season two of Outback-set series Mystery Road before directing Firebite, a vampire-filled fantasy series he also created and wrote. The series stars Rob Collins and Shantae Barnes-Cowan as two Indigenous Australian hunters on a quest to battle the last colony of vampires in the middle of the South Australian desert.

BREAKFAST & SCREENING: WEDNESDAY 30TH, 8AM, HALL 3

CAROLINE MORAN

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COMEDY WRITER MORAN IS BUILDING AN ENVIABLE CV ON THE BACK OF SHOWS SUCH AS RAISED BY WOLVES AND HULLRAISERS, which is returning for a second season. She has now landed her own BBC series, in which five women are enjoying the perfect hen weekend – until they face the ultimate ght for survival. When bridezilla-to-be Zara’s hen do is interrupted by the end of the world, she and her four best mates must wait out the breakdown of human civilisation in an isolated holiday cottage in Wales. Moran promises “high drama, tons of jokes, massive surprises and lots of penisthemed pound-shop tat.”

SARA JOHNSEN

SWEDISH WRITER JOHNSEN IS BEST KNOWN FOR 22 JULI (22 JULY), the series that dramatised the terror attacks on Oslo and the island of Utøya on that date in 2011. It told the story from the perspective of five fictional characters – a journalist, a hospital worker, a police officer, a right-wing blogger and a teacher. She has now partnered with director Tomas Alfredson to bring celebrated

filmmaker Ingmar Bergman’s script Trolösa to the screen. Backed by Swedish broadcaster SVT, the project explores the relationship between passion and love. David falls in love with his best friend Mark's wife, the beautiful Marianne, and their love affair has painful consequences for two families as the characters find themselves driven by lust, jealousy, betrayal and love.

Johnsen with director Tomas Alfredson

HANIA ELKINGTON

ELKINGTON WILL HOPE TO LAND AN ACE WITH FIFTEEN LOVE, a series commissioned by Prime Video and set in the world of elite tennis. She has created and written the show, which will star newcomer Ella Lily Hyland as a dynamic young prodigy enjoying a meteoric rise in the sport, while Aidan Turner (Poldark) is her maverick coach. Together they reach the semi-finals of the French Open. But five years later, after her career ends in tragedy, Ella makes an explosive allegation against her former coach that leads them into a battle over the truth. Elkington’s previous work includes Netflix drama The Innocents and writing an episode of Apple TV+ drama The Essex Serpent

AMY JEPHTA

A GOLDEN GLOBE WINNER

THANKS TO HER WORK ON THE AFFAIR, screenwriter and playwright Marnich has also written on shows such as Big Love, The Big C, Low Winter Sun, The OA and The Son. She has now been tapped to adapt author Jonathan Franzen’s epic novel Freedom. Described as a laugh-out-loud, emotional knockout, the story follows the journey of Patty and Walter Berglund, pioneers of old St Paul who are now living in an evermore confusing world. In the new millennium, they are left to question why their teenage son moved in with the aggressively Republican family next door, why environmental lawyer Walter is now working for Big Coal and why their neighbour has turned into the local Fury. M E L A N I E M A R N I C H MELANIE MARNICH

SCREENWRITER AND PLAYWRIGHT JEPHTA HAILS FROM CAPE TOWN AND HAS THREE FEATURE FILM CREDITS TO HER NAME, including South Africa’s official 2018 Golden Globes submission Ellen: The Ellen Pakkies Story. Her stage work has also been directed by Danny Boyle for the Royal Court and has featured at the Edinburgh International Festival. On television, her work includes Trackers for Cinemax and she was recently executive producer and showrunner on African streamer Showmax’s crime drama Skemerdans. Jephta is now writing on Cape Town-set Devil’s Peak, which will air on M-Net in 2023. The crime drama follows a talented but broken detective who is tasked with tracking down a righteous vigilante killer whose crimes capture the imagination of the city. In addition, Jephta has created Catch Me a Killer, which is based on the true story of a journalist-turnedpsychologist who becomes South Africa’s first serial killer profiler. She is also attached as showrunner of Hannover Street, the story of two sisters during South Africa’s Apartheid years, with Morgan Freeman among the executive producers.

LOST BOYS & FAIRIES, WHICH EMERGED FROM THE BBC’S TV DRAMA WRITERS’ PROGRAMME IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PRODUCER DUCK SOUP FILMS IN 2019 , marks James’ fi rst original screenplay for the UK pubcaster. The series follows Gabriel, a singer and artiste extraordinaire at Cardiff’s queer club space Neverland, and his partner Andy as they adopt their fi rst child. Gabriel

has a troubled history and must embark upon a journey of self-discovery and attempt to repair his relationship with his dad before he can truly begin to parent seven-year old Jake. Previously, Welshman James has worked as a playwright, screenwriter, composer, performer and translator across theatre, radio, TV and fi lm in both English and Welsh. His small-screen credits include Crackanory and 10 episodes of the returning Welshlanguage drama Gwaith/Cartref

DAF JAMES DAF ANDREA GIBB

SCOTTISH SCREENWRITER

GIBB WAS BEHIND THE AWARDWINNING FEATURE-LENGTH DRAMA ELIZABETH IS MISSING, which is based on the novel by Emma Healey and tells the story of an 80-year-old woman battling dementia while trying to solve the mystery behind her missing friend. She is now handling another adaptation, this time turning Andrew O’Hagan’s acclaimed novel Mayflies into a two-part BBC drama. Starring Martin Compston, Tony Curran and Ashley Jensen, the story follows the relationship between two friends that ignites over summer in 1986 and a request 30 years later that will push their friendship, love and loyalty to the limit.

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MORGAN IS A BAFTA- AND EMMYWINNING SCREENWRITER KNOWN FOR THE SPLIT IRON LADY will be her most personal yet. She is adapting her own memoir, This is Not a Pity Memoir, after producer Sister picked up rights. Described as poignant and heartbreaking but unsentimental, it follows how Morgan’s life changed tragically after she returned home one morning to years had collapsed on the bathroom floor. Morgan is also the creator of Eric, a Net young boy who goes missing in 1980s Manhattan.

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JOE MURTAGH

LONDON-BORN IRISH WRITER MURTAGH’S FIRST FEATURE, CALM WITH HORSES, landed several Bafta nominations following its release in 2019, including one for Outstanding British Film. For TV, Murtagh has written on sci-fi series Origin and gangster drama Gangs of London. Now he is the creator and writer of BBC and Showtime drama The Woman in the Wall, a gothic thriller starring Ruth Wilson and Daryl McCormack. Wilson plays Lorna Brady, a woman from the fictional town of Kilkinure, who wakes up to find a corpse in her house. A chronic sleepwalker, she isn’t sure who the dead woman is or if she is somewhat responsible for her demise – and her luck deserts her further when ambitious detective Colman Akande (McCormack) gets on her tail for a seemingly unrelated crime.

NORWEGIAN SCREENWRITER KARLSEN’S CREDITS INCLUDE DAG, ONE NIGHT AND EXIT, the series that took Norway by storm with its depiction of extravagant lives of male bankers who spend their earnings on wild parties, drugs and prostitutes. Øystein also created BritBox drama Whitstable Pearl, which is produced by Buccaneer Media, and is now working with the same firm on So Long, Marianne. The eight-parter is based on the extraordinary lives of Marianne Ihlen and Leonard Cohen – two lonely people who fall in love in a period of their lives when they are trying to figure out who they are and where their place in the world is, set against the backdrops of Oslo, London, New York, Montreal and the Greek island of Hydra.

ØYSTEIN KARLSEN

O P P Y C O G A N POPPY COGAN

PCOGAN HAS BEEN A WRITER ON TWO OF THE BBC’S STANDOUT DRAMAS THIS YEAR – psychological thriller Chloe and unsettling young-adult horror series Red Rose . She’s now back at the Beeb and taking the lead in the writers room with her own series, BBC Three’s A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder . She will also executive produce the show, which is an

adaptation of Holly Jackson’s novel and is pitched as a compulsive teen crime thriller. The story concerns the murder of schoolgirl Andie Bell fi ve years ago, her killer Sal Singh, and Pippa Fitz-Amobi, who is the only one who believes he didn’t do it. But who is the real murderer and how far will they go to keep Pippa from the truth?

AINSLIE CLOUSTON

CLOUSTON HAS BEEN BUILDING HER WRITING CAREER ON THE BACK OF SHOWS SUCH AS MY LIFE IS MURDER, Playing for Keeps , Amazing Grace and Darby & Joan , while she also directed comedy 600 Bottles of Wine . Now the Australian is writing the scripts for Paper Dolls , a scripted drama set in 2000 that follows the meteoric rise and fall of fi ctional girl band Indigo, a manufactured pop group born out of one of the fi rst reality TV shows. Facing instant success and stardom, the girls’ connection with each other evolves from competition to con fi dants until secrets threaten to tear the band apart. Commissioned by Network 10 and Paramount+, the series is due out in 2023.

CASH CARRAWAY

CARRAWAY WRITES AND EXECUTIVE PRODUCES RAIN DOGS, A BBC AND HBO DRAMA FROM KILLING EVE MAKER SID GENTLE FILMS. The story is described as a wild and punky tale of a mother’s love for her daughter, of deep-rooted and passionate friendships and of brilliance thwarted by poverty and prejudice. Daisy-May Cooper (This Country) stars as a young working-class single mother living with her 10-year-old daughter and doing everything she can to keep her head above the poverty line. The series follows Carraway’s success with her non-fiction memoir Skint Estate, a “scream against austerity” that rages against sink estates, police cells, refuges and peep shows.

SASKIA NOORT

THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR, KNOWN AS ‘THE DUTCH QUEEN OF SUSPENSE,’ is writing her first television series. Something Stupid, which is among the first Dutch originals for streaming platform Viaplay, is a dark comedy that follows three women seeking revenge on the man who betrayed them. It explores themes of equality and exploitation in the TV industry.

ISIS DAVIS

AFTER WINNING THE BEST SCRIPT AWARD AT THE 2017 BRITISH URBAN FILM FESTIVAL FOR HER SCREENPLAY DRAW, Davis joined the writing teams for Killing Eve and upcoming BBC series Champion. As an actor, she has also appeared in The Secret Garden, Silent Witness and Electric Dreams. Davis is now penning Your Eyes, a timely story about family, race and identity told through the experience of an unconventionally diverse modern family. Staunch black rights activist Yinka Oppong and her Rastafarian husband Paul waited on the adoption list for years and when the call finally came, they were shocked to be presented with a white, blue-eyed baby. Sixteen years later, Paul and Yinka now have three teenagers: their adopted white son Benny and black biological twins Theo and Lola. Paul and Yinka raised their children colour-blind in their liberal, multicultural city neighbourhood, but when Paul gets a high-profile new job, the family moves to an affluent, predominantly white town miles away and must fight to stay together in a place that is trying to tear them apart.

MARLON JAMES

FOR FANS OF LINE OF DUTY, SONDHI IS RECOGNISABLE AS PC MANEET BINDRA , who supports the ongoing investigations of the AC-12 team to fl ush out corrupt of fi cers. With four-part thriller DI Ray , Sondhi partnered with Line of Duty creator Jed Mercurio’s HTM Television to tell the story of Rachita Ray, a police of fi cer who takes on a case that forces her to confront a lifelong personal con fl ict between her British identity and her South Asian heritage. Parminder Nagra ( ER ) leads the cast of the show, which the writer says is a deeply personal project focusing on her own background as a British Asian woman.

MARLON JAMES MAYA SONDHI

A BOOKER PRIZE-WINNING AUTHOR, James arrives on TV with a debut series described as a “vivid, blistering slice of contemporary noir,” told in six parts through the eyes of six different people. Commissioned by Channel 4 and HBO, Get Millie Black introduces Millie-Jean Black, a detective who swaps her troubled life in London to work missing persons cases for the Jamaican police

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force. She soon picks up the trail of an investigation that begins in the steaming streets of downtown Kingston and heads up to the hill plantations of the post-colonial elite and eventually propels her back to the UK. James’s novels include John Crow’s Devil, The Book of Night Women, Booker winner A Brief History of Seven Killings and Black Leopard, Red Wolf.

JACQUELIN PERSKE

AUSTRALIAN WRITER PERSKE IS BEST KNOWN IN THE UK AND DOWN UNDER FOR HER WORK ON THE CRY, a fractured, emotionally charged adaptation of Helen FitzGerald’s novel about a young couple struggling with parenthood when unthinkable tragedy strikes. With credits on other shows such as Fires, Love My Way and Deadline Gallipoli, she is now working with The Cry producer Synchronicity Films once again on The Tattooist of Auschwitz. Based on Heather Morris’s novel of the same name, this Sky Original drama tells the true story of Lale Sokolov, a Jewish prisoner given the job of tattooing identification numbers on fellow prisoners’ arms in the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp during the Second World War.

SARA COLLINS

FOR ITV SERIES THE CONFESSIONS OF FRANNIE LANGTON, former barrister Collins has adapted her award-winning debut novel that explores themes of race, class and oppression through a murder mystery. The four-parter, set against the backdrop of Georgian London, charts Frannie’s journey from Jamaican plantation to the grand Mayfair mansion of scientist George Benham and his wife Madame Marguerite Benham, where she is employed as their maid. When the Benhams are found murdered in their beds, Frannie is found lying next to Marguerite and is accused of a murder she can’t remember. Will she recall the events of that night? And if she isn’t guilty, who is?

MORWENNA BANKS

AS AN ACTOR, BANKS HAS HAD NUMEROUS ROLES IN SHOWS SUCH AS THE THICK OF IT, RED DWARF, SHAMELESS, SAXONDALE AND BREEDERS, as well as BritBox’s recent Agatha Christie mystery Why Didn’t They Ask Evans?. In addition, she lends her voice to many kids’ series, most notably Peppa Pig, Danger Mouse and Ben & Holly’s Little Kingdom. Her writing CV includes credits on Damned, Up the Women and sketch show Ruddy Hell! It’s Harry & Paul, and Banks is now adapting Nick Hornby novel Funny Girl for Sky. It stars Gemma Arterton as new Miss Blackpool Barbara Parker, who heads to London, where she finds her voice in the maledominated world of the 1960s sitcom.

DQ100: Series Q

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FILMING IS UNDERWAY IN POLAND ON THIS DISNEY+ ADAPTATION OF SHOWRUNNER ANNETTE HESS’S NOVEL DEUTSCHES HAUS (GERMAN HOUSE) tells the story of a young interpreter who is confronted with the shocking truth of the Holocaust during her work at the first Auschwitz trial in Frankfurt in 1963. She relentlessly uncovers what has been suppressed during the German economic miracle and hidden under the German ‘cosiness’ of the time: crimes, suffering, guilt and the entanglements of her own family in German history. Directed by Isa Prahl and Randa Chahoud, the five-part series boasts a cast headed by Katharina Stark, Anke Engelke, Hans-Jochen Wagner and Ricarda Seifried.

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GERMAN HOUSE

LAND OF LAND WOMEN BERLIN

DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES STAR EVA LONGORIA (PICTURED IN TELENOVELA) EXECUTIVE PRODUCES AND STARS IN THIS SPANISH APPLE TV+ SERIES, in which she plays one half of a mother-daughter duo alongside Carmen Maura (Volver). From the team behind the streamer’s Now & Then and based on Sandra Barneda’s novel of the same name, Tierra de mujeres (Land of Women) follows Gala (Longoria), a New York empty-nester who is forced to flee her home after her husband implicates the family in financial improprieties. Together with her ageing mother Julia (Maura) and her college-age daughter, she moves to the northern Spain town Julia fled 50 years earlier. Starting over with new identities proves to be more complicated than they expected in a community where secrets don’t stay secret for long.

AFTER WORLDWIDE HIT SPANISH CRIME THRILLER LA CASA DE PAPEL (MONEY HEIST) CAME TO AN END, it was inevitable that writers Esther Martínez Lobato and Álex Pina would find a way to keep the story alive. The result is Berlin, a prequel series based on one of the most popular characters in the original series, who is once again brought to life by actor Pedro Alonso. This time, however, he is surrounded by a new gang that will help him pull off some of his most extraordinary heists.

A R L E N E MARLENE

MIN 2004 FEATURE TROY (PICTURED), DIANE KRUGER PLAYED HELEN, THE WOMAN AT THE CENTRE OF THE TROJAN WAR. Now the Inglourious Basterds and In the Fade actor is set to play another iconic figure, Marlene Dietrich, in a series inspired by the movie star’s life as an artist, lover, German emigrant and mother. Marlene is based on a biography by Dietrich’s daughter Maria Riva and will show her not only as a cinematic icon but also as a woman in exile and a resistance fighter. Writer-director Fatih Akin is behind the project.

THE BURNING GIRLS

BASED ON CJ TUDOR’S NOVEL OF THE SAME NAME AND ADAPTED BY BRON (THE BRIDGE) CREATOR HANS ROSENFELDT, this sixpart Paramount+ series blends psychological horror and small-town mystery for a story set in a village haunted by a dark and turbulent history. Samantha Morton (The Serpent Queen) plays Reverend Jack Brooks, a single parent haunted by a tragedy at her previous church and who bears the burden of her husband’s death. When she arrives with her 15-year-old daughter in Chapel Croft with the hope of a fresh start, they soon find the village rife with conspiracies and secrets relating to a bloody past.

AN EPIC FANTASY SERIES THAT HAS BEEN COMMISSIONED BY RTL+ IN GERMANY AND WILL ALSO BE RELEASED AS A MOVIE, Hagen is pitched as a reinterpretation of Nibelungenlied, a legendary poem written around 1200 that recounts the escapades of heroes and warriors. In the series, Burgundian weapon master Hagen von Tronje is keeping his crisis-ridden kingdom together with an iron fist while suppressing his love for

the king’s daughter, Kriemhild, and his own dark past. But Hagen faces a choice between love and loyalty to the king when Kriemhild falls in love with famous dragon slayer Siegfried von Xanten, whom the king has asked to help him force dangerous Valkyrie Brunhild to become his queen. Gijs Naber stars as Hagen, alongside Jannis Niewöhner (Siegfried), Lilja van der Zwaag (Kriemhild) and Dominic Marcus Singer (King Gunter).

BLACK SNOW

VIKINGS STAR TRAVIS FIMMEL TAKES THE LEAD IN THIS AUSTRALIAN SERIES COMMISSIONED BY LOCAL STREAMER STAN. The six-part mystery drama takes place in two timelines. In 1995, the murder of 17-yearold Isabel Baker leaves her small North Queensland town shocked, with the case going unsolved. Meanwhile, in 2020, the opening of a time capsule unearths a secret that puts cold-case detective James Cormack (Fimmel) on the trail of the killer.

THIS FIVE-PART CAPE TOWN CRIME THRILLER FROM WRITER MATTHEW ORTON (Moon Knight) introduces Detective Benny Griessel, the character created by novelist Deon Meyer. Griessel (Hilton Pelser, pictured) is tasked with tracking down a vigilante killer capturing the imagination of the city, while grieving father Thobela Mpayipheli (Sisanda Henna) desperately seeks justice for the murder of his son. The series is produced by Lookout Point (Gentleman Jack) for South Africa’s M-Net and distributor BBC Studios. D E V I L ’ S P E A K

PLATFORM 7

THIS HAUNTING THRILLER IS BASED ON THE NOVEL BY LOUISE DOUGHTY (APPLE TREE YARD), with The Politician’s Husband writer Paula Milne penning the adaptation. It follows central character Lisa who, after witnessing a cataclysmic event on platform seven of a railway station, finds her own fragmented memory jogged to reveal a connection between her own life and that of the event she has just seen. The drama has been commissioned by UK broadcaster ITV for its ITVX streaming platform.

THE GLOBAL SEED VAULT, DESCRIBED AS A BACKUP HARD DRIVE OF GLOBAL NUTRITION, is central to this sixpart thriller that is being filmed in Spitsbergen in Norway, Munich in Germany and Prague in the Czech Republic. Heino Ferch plays German detective Max, who partners with Ingrid Bolsø Berdal’s Norwegian police officer Thea to find Max’s missing nephew Victor (Jonathan Berlin) in Spitsbergen. But it soon becomes clear his disappearance may be connected to the explosive takeover of a seed company that is subject to a lot of controversy in Brussels. Thea and Max then find themselves plunged into a web of intrigue and political interests that puts Victor’s and their own lives in danger. NRK Norway and German’s ARD Degeto are the commissioning broadcasters.

THE SEED THE FALLEN

OUIJA

THIS SUPERNATURAL COMING-OF-AGE DRAMA IS LIONSGATE+’S SECOND FRENCH-LANGUAGE COPRODUCTION , the US streamer partnering with France Télévisions on a series from the producers behind the Deutschland 83 franchise and Baron Noir . Starring Ophelia Kolb, Katharina Schüttler (pictured), Stefan Konarske and Bruno Solo, it focuses on the events of a French-German school exchange in rural France during the 1982 World Cup, told from the perspective of characters from three generations – one who fought in the Second World War, one who rebuilt Europe during the Cold War and one enjoying prosperity in the 1980s.

SOFIA HELIN REUNITES WITH BRON (THE BRIDGE) WRITER CAMILLA AHLGREN FOR THIS EMOTIONAL CRIME DRAMA, commissioned by Nordic streamer C More, Sweden’s TV4 and Germany’s ZDF. Sanningen (Fallen) stars Helin as Iris Broman, who has left Stockholm following a tragedy to become the new head of the Kalla Fall, a group that solves cold cases in Malmö. Living with her half-sister Kattis (Hedda Stiernstedt) in Ystad, Iris picks up a cold case that connects the lives of several people – but what was the truth then, what is the truth now and what are the consequences?

THE FORTRESS

THIS DYSTOPIAN DRAMA, COMMISSIONED BY SCANDINAVIAN STREAMER VIAPLAY UNDER LOCAL TITLE FESTNING NORGE, follows the fateful consequences of Norway’s decision to isolate itself and its citizens from the rest of the world. In 2037, the country is surrounded by an enormous wall, inside which its people enjoy a privileged, sheltered and self-sufficient existence. But when a deadly pandemic breaks out, its inhabitants soon find the barriers built to protect them instead hold them prisoner. Tobias Santelmann, Selome Emnetu and Russell Tovey (pictured) lead the international cast.

D E R B R U C H ODERBRUCH

AN EIGHT-PART MYSTERY THRILLER FILMED IN GERMANY AND POLAND , Oderbruch follows the discovery of numerous murder victims in the titular German region, which sits on the Polish border. The case brings Detective Roland Voit (Felix Kramer) to his home town to work with Polish police of fi cer Stanislaw Zajak (Lucas Gregorowicz), while his

former colleague and childhood sweetheart Maggie Kring (Karoline Schuch) joins the investigation when her family comes under suspicion. The investigation forces Roland and Maggie to delve into their past to uncover the facts behind the death of the latter’s brother and the sinister truth of the case.

WOOL

DUNE AND MISSION IMPOSSIBLE FRANCHISE ACTOR REBECCA FERGUSON (PICTURED) STARS IN THIS APPLE TV+ ADAPTATION OF HUGH HOWEY’S TRILOGY OF DYSTOPIAN NOVELS.

Written

by Graham

Yost

(Band of Brothers, Justified), it takes place in a ruined and toxic future. A community exists in a giant silo underground, hundreds of stories deep, where men and women must live in a society full of regulations they believe are meant to protect them. Ferguson will star as Juliette, an independent and hardworking engineer.

TRUELOVE

TURNING THE MODERN LOVE STORY ON ITS HEAD, this Channel 4 series promises to break the rules for older characters on screen with a story featuring a core cast of actors in their 60s and 70s. Phil, played by Julie Walters, is an ex-senior police chief experiencing a boring retirement, while Clarke Peters (pictured) plays Ken, a divorcee and ex-special forces vet who feels similarly at sea. They were teenage sweethearts and despite life having moved on, they have never quite managed to forget each other. When they reunite years later at a funeral, talk turns to the ‘ideal’ death, and they agree to help each other die when the time is right.

FLEISHMAN IS IN TROUBLE

A STAR-STUDDED CAST HAS BEEN ASSEMBLED FOR THIS FX ON HULU SERIES WRITTEN BY TAFFY BRODESSERAKNER, based on her novel of the same name. It centres on Toby Fleishman (Jesse Eisenberg), a recently separated 40-something who dives into the world of appbased dating with the kind of success he never had dating in his youth, before he got married at the end of medical school. But when his ex-wife Rachel (Claire Danes) disappears, he is left with the kids and no hint of when or if she plans to return. As he tries to balance parenting, the return of old friends, a promotion at the hospital where he works and all the eligible women Manhattan has to offer, he realises he’ll never figure out what happened to Rachel until he can take a more honest look at what happened to their marriage. Adam Brody and Lizzy Caplan are also among the cast.

NAUTILUS

BASED ON JULES VERNE CLASSIC 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA, this 10-part Disney+ series will tell the origin story of Captain Nemo (Shazad Latif) and his legendary submarine, which lends its name to the series title. An Indian prince

robbed of his birthright and a prisoner of the East India Company, Nemo is determined to take revenge. But when he sets sail with his ragtag crew on board the sub, he battles his enemy and also discovers a magical underwater world.

THIS ANTARCTICA-SET SCI-FI STORY IS BASED ON THE BOOK BY PAUL MCAULEY AND WRITTEN BY STATELESS’S ELISE

MCCREDIE. It’s set in the year 2098, decades after the melting glaciers have given way to a new frontier of resource-rich land, where a generation of settlers from all around the dying world have converged. Austral Ferrado, one of a number of “huskies” – people who have been gene-edited to better withstand the unforgiving climate of the far south – is trapped in a society that has imprisoned her. When her escape plan quickly goes awry, she finds herself desperate and on the run.

FAHRENHEIT

COMMISSIONED BY FRENCH STREAMER OCS AND FILMED IN ENGLISH AND SPANISH, this eight-part sci-fi series promises a blend of action and suspense at a breakneck pace in a story that highlights the realities of eco-disasters that loom in the near future. At a time when temperatures have risen all over the planet, small groups of hardline eco-activists commit destructive actions, attacks and targeted murders in a final bid to save a world condemned by industry and ultra-capitalism. Mateo, a young CIA recruit, is sent to infiltrate one of these groups, with a mission to identify its charismatic leader, but soon loses his bearings in this desperately dangerous operation.

The best place

VAMPIRES

THESE BLOOD-THIRSTY BEINGS ARE NEVER FAR FROM OUR SCREENS, but this year has seen a number of new additions to the TV vampire catalogue. Let the Right One In is a remake of the acclaimed Swedish film and book of the same name, plus the US film remake called Let Me In, while Interview with the Vampire (pictured) brought Anne Rice’s gothic horror novel to the small screen almost 30 years after the feature adaptation starring Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt. Vampire Academy, based on the

novel by Richelle Mead, also aired this year, as did First Kill, while Legacies – part of the Vampire Diaries universe – came to an end after four seasons. Meanwhile, Spider-Man’s ‘Guy in the Chair’ Jacob Batalon took the lead in Reginald the Vampire, a supernatural drama based on Johnny B Truant’s Fat Vampire, which aims to subvert the genre as Reginald crashes into a world populated by beautiful, fit and vain vampires while navigating numerous obstacles in his new undead life.

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DOCTOR WHO

ON THE EVE OF ITS 60TH ANNIVERSARY IN 2023 series Doctor Who proved it still has the power to entertain and amaze audiences. As Jodie Whittaker, the to lead the show, bowed out in a feature-length episode that pitted her against famous foes including the Daleks and the Cybermen, viewers were expecting to see her regenerate into Ncuti Gatwa (pictured), following the announcement that the Sex Education star would be be taking over the role. Returning showrunner Russell T Davies had different ideas, however, and fans were stunned to see David Tennant emerge as The Doctor for the second time, for what we now know will be three special episodes airing next year. Gatwa will then join the show. Until then, just one thing is certain: Davies will ensure Doctor Who birthday will be one to remember.

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Trends & Trailblazers

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE BEEB

UK PUBCASTER THE BBC CELEBRATED ITS 100TH BIRTHDAY IN 2022, at a time when traditional networks are being drowned out – financially and artistically – by international streaming platforms and the sheer weight of content now available to watch from around the world. But the importance of the BBC cannot be underestimated, in the past, present and the future. Where else would you find such an eclectic slate of acclaimed and award-winning dramas, beloved not just in the UK but around the world? Titles such as Line of Duty, Sherlock, I May Destroy

You, Fleabag, Small Axe, Peaky Blinders (pictured), Gentleman Jack and Happy Valley would make any must-watch list – and they’re just some of the most recent series. Go back further and you can find I, Claudius, Doctor Who, Our Friends in the North, Pride & Prejudice and Dennis Potter’s musical The Singing Detective. After 100 years, the BBC’s legacy should never be undersold, just like its future.

MAYBE IT’S BECAUSE OF THE WORLD CUP –IN FACT, IT PROBABLY IS – BUT THERE’S A NOTABLE NUMBER OF FOOTBALLBASED DRAMAS COMING TO AIR

While sport is notoriously difficult to recreate on screen, that hasn’t put off commissioners from ordering stories highlighting an often darker and murkier side of the beautiful game. First came The Window, which charts one summer in the life of a 17-year-old wunderkind who has gatecrashed the global stage, kickstarting a power struggle for control of his career and a share of his earnings from his first professional contract. Meanwhile, Klaus Steinbacher will star as German football legend Franz Beckenbauer in a film biopic called Kaiser (pictured). But most ambitious is Net, an interconnected web of series from Germany, Austria and Italy that each explore a different story, with characters that cross over between the different shows. Other series to watch include Sky Italia’s agentfocused The Great Game, Mexico’s de Cuervos, Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes’ The English Game and Emmy favourite Ted Lasso, while Munich Games explores a threat against a match between Germany and Israel on the 50th anniversary of the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre.

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FOOTBALL FEVER

WHILE WESTERNS ARE A PART OF CLASSIC CINEMA AND TELEVISION HISTORY, they , are becoming an increasingly common are an common sight across the moder n TV landscape across the modern TV landscape. Shows such as as Hell on Wheels on , Justified, Hatfield & McCoys Hatfield & and Longmire paved the way for contemporary series such the way for series such as Godless, The Son and Wynonna

WESTERNS

Earp Last year saw the reinvention of . Last year saw the reinvention of Japanese anime anime Cowboy Bebop, while , while Taylor Sheridan’s Sheridan’s Yellowstone continues to be one of the biggest shows on US to be one of the shows on US TV. Spin-off TV. 1883 debuted at the end of at last year, with a further extension called last year, with a further extension called 1923 launching in December Another in December. Another show in the franchise, show in the 6666, has also , has also been ordered ordered. Vikings creator Michael Hirst brought his take on Hirst his take on Billy the Kid the Kid to screens this year, while Hugo Blick to screens this year, while Blick drama The English The (pictured) paired Emily Blunt and Chaske Spencer on a Blunt and Chaske on a jour ney across 1980s America as Blunt’s journey across 1980s America as Blunt’s Cor nelia seeks revenge for the death of Cornelia seeks revenge for the death of her son son. Django, a reimagining of Sergio , a of Corbucci’s 1966 Italian film of the same same name, also arrived this year name, also arrived this year.

FANTASY EPICS

THERE’S NO QUESTION 2022 HAS BEEN THE YEAR OF EPIC FANTASY DRAMAS, most commonly adapted from bestselling novels that take viewers into imagined worlds far from our own. The undoubted highlight has been the long-awaited release of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (pictured) – Prime Video’s series based on JRR Tolkien’s beloved novels and set thousands of years before his most recognisable works, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. The show’s release followed on the heels of House of the Dragon, HBO’s prequel-sequel to its mega-hit drama Game of Thrones and again based on material from George RR Martin. Not to miss out, Netflix entered the fray with The Sandman, a series based on Neil Gaiman’s graphic novel series. Together with Prime Video’s previous entry into the genre, of Time, numerous Netflix efforts like Shadow & Bone and Witcher, and the impending return of BBC and HBO drama Materials, there’s certainly no shortage of opportunities for fantasy fans to leave the real world behind.

FERTILITY DRAMAS

AN AMAZING QUIRK OF TELEVISION SCHEDULING IS HOW TWO SHOWS WITH SIMILAR STORIES CAN APPEAR WITHIN WEEKS OF EACH OTHER, a phenomenon that is only likely to occur more often now that viewers can easily access series from around the world. In April, Norway’s Made in Oslo (pictured) landed on Viaplay and introduced Elin (Pia Tjelta), a doctor who runs a fertility clinic where she offers patients a chance to become parents. But more than anything, Elin longs to be a mother herself and, as her frustration grows, she becomes prepared to risk her relationships and career to start her own family. Then in June, Netflix debuted Danish series Skruk (Baby Fever), which took a more humorous approach to the subject as fertility doctor Elin drunkenly inseminates herself with a sample from her ex-boyfriend – starting a chain reaction that has both personal and professional consequences.

DQ100: Trends & Trailblazers

Trends

ENDEAVOUR

s o n l y d e s i g n e d t o b e a o n e - o ff s p e c i a l i n 2 0 1 2 t o m a r k t h e 2 5 t h was only designed to be a one-off special in 2012 to mark the 25th a n n i v e r s a r y o f anniversary of I n s p e c t o r M o r s e Inspector Morse ’s t e l e v i s i o n d e b u t . B u t s i n c e t h e n , a ’s television debut. But since then, a f u r t h e r 3 2 fi l m s h a v e b e e n p ro d u c e d – w i t h t h re e m o re i n p ro d u c t i o n further 32 lms have been produced – with three more in production t h a t w i l l b r i n g t h e c u r t a i n d o w n o n t h e a d v e n t u re s o f y o u n g M o r s e that will bring the curtain down on the adventures of young Morse a f t e r 1 0 y e a r s T h e I T V s e r i e s h a s a l s o b e e n s o l d i n t o m o re t h a n after 10 years. The ITV series has also been sold into more than 200 territories, making series stars Shaun Evans and Roger Allam f a m i l i a r f a c e s a ro u n d t h e w o r l d familiar faces around the world.

SPORTS BIOPICS

WHERE SPORTS DOCUMENTARIES HAVE LED THE WAY WITH SERIES SUCH AS THE ALL OR NOTHING FRANCHISE, the NFL’s Hard Knocks, Last Chance U, Welcome to Wrexham and The Last Dance, dramas are quickly following – much like what has happened with true crime. Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty (pictured) this year dramatised the story of how the LA basketball team became one of sport’s most dominant dynasties on and off the court in the 1980s, while Mike explores the wild, tragic and controversial life of former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson. There’s also the forthcoming Franz Beckenbauer biopic mentioned a couple of pages back, plus last year’s Colin in Black & White, which charted the high-school years of NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick and the experiences that led him to become an activist.

TECH THRILLERS ADJANI SALMON

AS IF THE REAL WORLD WEREN’T SCARY ENOUGH, two recent British dramas have shed a light on current and future worlds where technology has the power to shape and influence geopolitical events. Set in 2024, Peter Kosminsky’s series The Undeclared War (pictured) follows a team of analysts working within the secretive world of UK intelligence service GCHQ to ward off a series of cyber attacks in the run-up to a general election. When a routine stress

test of internet infrastructure goes awry, GCHQ intern Saara Parvin (Hannah Khalique-Brown) finds herself on the front line of cyber warfare. This year also saw the welcome return of The Capture, Ben Chanan’s timely and topical surveillance thriller that portrays a world in which deepfake videos and real-time video manipulation are common – if highly secretive – practices employed by governments to suit their own needs or upset the ambitions of others.

THE WINNER OF THE EMERGING TALENT – FICTION AWARD

AT THIS YEAR’S BAFTA TV CRAFT AWARDS, Salmon has burst onto screens in the past year thanks to his BBC Comedy Slice entry Dreaming Whilst Black, which he starred in and co-wrote. Based on his own YouTube series of the same name, it follows an aspiring filmmaker who is trapped in a dead-end job and must decide whether to follow or give up his dreams. Actor, writer, director and producer Salmon has also starred in Channel 4’s Chivalry, and joined Jodie Whittaker, Mandip Gill, John Bishop and Aisling Bea in the TARDIS for Doctor Who episode Eve of the Daleks

WEBCOMIC, GRAPHIC NOVEL,

HIT

NETFLIX

TELEVISION SERIES… Heartstopper has become a cultural phenomenon since its launch on the streamer in April. Adapted by Alice Oseman from her own LGBTQ+ romance comic, it is a wonderfully sweet and uplifting coming-of-age story about teenagers Charlie and Nick, who discover their friendship may be something more as they navigate school and the complexities of young love. Winning rave reviews from critics and fans of the original source material alike, the series blends perfect performances from its young cast with fleeting touches of Oseman’s own illustrations that only serve to heighten, rather than direct, the emotions on screen. Two more seasons are on the way.

HEARTSTOPPER

NICÔLE LECKY LECKY

REUNIONS

IF THERE’S A TELEVISION ANNIVERSARY, THERE’S GOING TO BE A REUNION

Take Silent Witness (pictured), the long-running BBC drama that first introduced pathologist Sam Ryan, played by Amanda Burton, in 1996. As the series celebrated its 25th season this year, Burton rejoined Silent Witness for the first time since 2004, teaming up with the current cast that includes long-running star Emilia Fox, who plays forensic pathologist Nikki Alexander. As looked at in detail on page 52, another BBC series, Doctor Who, is celebrating its 60th anniversary in 2023, and David Tennant and Catherine Tate are confirmed to be coming back to the show. Meanwhile, Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan rejoined Australian soap Neighbours after 30 years away from Ramsay Street. The show was set to come to an end after 37 years on screen, with former stars Guy Pearce and Margot Robbie also returning to the fictional Melbourne suburb of Erinsborough for a star-studded finale earlier this summer. But then in November, Amazon’s Freevee announced it had partnered with Australian broadcaster Network 10 to revive the series, which will return to air in 2023.

ACTOR, WRITER AND SINGER-SONGWRITER LECKY IS THE CREATIVE FORCE BEHIND BBC DRAMA MOOD, an unflinching, funny and affecting sixpart series featuring an original soundtrack performed by Lecky herself. Based on her own play, called Superhoe, the series stars Lecky as Sasha, a 25-year-old wannabe singer and rapper who –homeless and forced to fend for herself – finds her way into the dark and intoxicating world of social media influencing. With two songs per episode, music plays an important part in the show as a means to convey Sasha’s thoughts and emotions without needing to say them to another character, while the story also touches on topical themes such as the rise of homelessness, sex work and social media addiction.

TRIPLE C TRIPLE

HUGE STRIDES ARE BEING TAKEN TO INCREASE AND IMPROVE REPRESENTATION OF DISABLED CREATIVES IN FRONT OF AND BEHIND THE CAMERA IN THE BRITISH TV INDUSTRY, and Triple C is at the forefront of this movement. Led by a team including Cherylee Houston and Melissa Johns, the groundbreaking organisation has been fighting for change for more than five years in a bid to improve access to and opportunities for deaf, disabled and neurodivergent people.

C H E A T E R S CHEATERS

Membership has rocketed over the past two years since Triple C moved online to deliver masterclasses, workshops and networking events through its own Disabled Artists Networking Community (DANC), as it strives to ensure nobody is left behind. With support from award-winning creatives including writer Jack Thorne (His Dark Materials), doors are finally opening. As Houston says, in a perfect world, Triple C wouldn’t exist, but thanks to its work, real change is happening.

ROSE MATAFEO

IF YOU THOUGHT THE PROSPECTS OF SHORTFORM DRAMA SANK WITH QUIBI when the mobile-led streaming platform crashed and burned just eight months after its launch in April 2020, this 18-part series told in 10-minute episodes proved there’s life in the format yet. Tackling themes of morality and monogamy, the BBC comedy-drama follows two strangers who share a drunken night together after their shared flight is cancelled. The next morning, both Fola and Josh admit they are in relationships with other people and that their encounter was a mistake. But when Josh arrives home, he is horrified to find Fola has just moved in across the street.

NEW ZEALAND ACTOR, WRITER AND COMEDIAN MATAFEO SCORED ONE OF THE TELEVISION HITS OF 2021 WITH HER ROMANTIC COMEDY STARSTRUCK, which charmed viewers who were otherwise contending with numerous lockdowns during the Covid-19 pandemic. The second season of the show launched in February, reacquainting viewers with Jessie (played by Matafeo), a millennial living in East London and juggling two dead-end jobs while also navigating the complications of being romantically involved with a famous fi lm star (Nikesh Patel). A third season has been ordered by the BBC and HBO Max, with Matafeo now also set to direct.

JEFF POPE

SINCE THE 2011 LAUNCH OF APPROPRIATE ADULT, which dramatised the case of serial killers Fred and Rose West, Pope has been at the forefront of a wave of British true crime dramas over the past decade. Whether as a writer or exec producer, he has been responsible for series including Hatton Garden, Little Boy Blue, The Moorside and A Confession In BBC miniseries Four Lives, which debuted in January, he partnered with frequent collaborator Neil McKay to explore the aftermath of four murders committed by Stephen Port (played by Stephen Merchant) and the police failings that allowed him to continue his crimes.

Pope was also behind recent ITV drama The Walk In, based on the true story of how a neo-Nazi plan to kill a British politician was foiled by an inside man.

I N E T O S C R E E N ZINE TO SCREEN

WHILE THE MAJORITY OF TV SERIES BASED ON EXISTING IP COME FROM THE LITERARY WORLD , there is an increasing trend for magazine articles to inspire longform storytelling. Famously, Sex & the City was based on Candace Bushnell’s newspaper columns, while “polyamorous romantic comedy” You Me Her was inspired by a Playboy article. Net fl ix’s recent space drama Away was loosely based on an Esquire article, and a Buzzfeed long read led to true crime drama The Act . Now three series released

this year have cemented magazine articles as the new go-to source for TV drama. Shonda Rhimes’ Net fl ix series Inventing Anna was inspired by a 2018 New York Magazine article, while Hulu’s The Girl From Plainville is based on an Esquire article about a real-life homicide trial. Then there’s another Hulu series, Pam & Tommy (pictured), which is based on a 2014 Rolling Stone piece about the man responsible for stealing and distributing the celebrity couple’s now-infamous sex tape.

ZUNFINISHED BUSINESS

AS IF THERE ISN’T ENOUGH ORIGINAL DRAMA TO WATCH, TV executives are increasingly opting to revive old favourites by bringing back series long consigned to re-runs. However, instead of old series simply being rebooted with new casts, classic titles are now returning to screens with the faces that made them famous in the first place. Most recently, Danish political drama Borgen (pictured) returned for a fourth season, 12 years after it first aired and nine years since season three ended.

Iconic US legal drama Law & Order also returned after a 12-year absence for its 21st season. Last year saw the reunion of Carrie, Miranda and Charlotte in Sex & the City follow-up And Just Like That, while Dexter also returned, 10 years after the blood-spatter-expert serial killer was last on screen.

Somewhere Boy writer Pete Jackson discusses how the meeting of the Channel 4 drama’s two key characters shapes the story of a boy who, after growing up isolated and scared of the monsters beyond his door, enters the real world for the first time.

SCENE STEALERS Somewhere Boy

ALTHOUGH HE DESCRIBES THE PREMISE OF SOMEWHERE BOY AS “RELATIVELY SIMPLE– ‘A BOY WHO’S BEEN LOCKED AWAY BY HIS FATHER IS SUDDENLY BROUGHT OUT INTO A REAL WORLD HE DIDN’T KNOW EXISTED,’” writer Pete Jackson says the setup allowed him to explore many complex themes, including love, abuse, friendship, grief, isolation, modern masculinity, parenthood, childhood and youth.

“To do this,” he says, “we created two ostensibly very different characters: Danny, a boy raised by his dad in isolation, on a diet of old romantic movies and music from the 40s, who believed the world outside was teeming with monsters waiting to snatch him away; and Aaron, a boy with an absent father, raised very much in the real world on a diet of social media, computer games and porn. One boy who’s clearly been raised in a strange fantasy world, and another who, despite being up in his bedroom in an achingly ordinary house in an achingly ordinary town, also exists in a kind of fantasy world.”

After Danny moves into Aaron’s family home, “these two boys are each able to challenge how the other views the world, to show up what the other is lacking, to learn from each other – and begin exploring the real world, and adulthood, together,” Jackson continues.

“Being young is always difficult and confusing. And perhaps now, in a rapidly

changing world, even more so. Young people are facing situations that are so new and unfamiliar, their parents have no idea how to prepare them because they’ve never faced anything like it. And while one of the most extraordinary things about humans is our ability to rapidly adapt to new situations, accept them as normal and move on, I wonder if that ability is causing us to not question exactly how the world is changing. Are we keeping calm and carrying on when we should be stopping and saying ‘what the fuck?’

“This show afforded us the opportunity to look at the world both through the eyes of Aaron, who’s just trying to keep up and fit in, and Danny, who’s coming to it all completely fresh and questions everything. Neither of them has the right answers but, together, they begin to figure out how the world works and begin to find their place in it.

“A good example of how the boys complement each other is their respective views on sex. Danny, knowing only his old movies, has a pretty clear idea of love and romance but has no knowledge whatsoever of actual sex. And Aaron, with constant access to porn, knows all about the cold mechanics of sex but nothing about love and romance. Somewhere in the middle lies reality, and these boys help each other find it.

“But this show isn’t just about the boys. They’re both products of their upbringing and

their respective fathers. We wanted to look at what it is to be a dad, and the impact dads have on their offspring. Danny’s dad, Steve, broken by grief after the death of his wife, fearful and distrustful of the world, took the extraordinary decision to spirit his son away to what he thought was safety – buying a house in the middle of nowhere and creating a beautiful world within those four walls for him and his beloved boy.

“Once Danny was old enough to start asking why they couldn’t go outside, Steve told him the world was full of monsters that would snatch Danny away, just as they had taken Danny’s mum. It’s abuse, of course, a terrible thing to do to a child. But it began as an act of love, and Danny grew up with a loving, devoted, tactile, emotionally expressive, engaged and available dad – something that many boys and men lack.

“Aaron, in the real world, has had a very different but very common experience – a remote, distant and eventually absent father. We look at the impact both types of parenting have had on the boys; how they both think of their dads as heroes, despite all the abundant evidence to the contrary; how difficult it is for them to admit that their dads are flawed, broken human beings; and what it takes for them to then forgive their dads and move on, on their own terms.

“Tied up with this inability to demonise one’s father is the show’s main dramatic thrust: the search for the monster. Danny has grown up being told there were monsters, and believing it entirely. Once released into the outside world and told over and over again that his dad was a

liar, Danny is almost relieved to discover that his mother was killed in a hit-and-run, that a man drove off when he could have helped. This allows Danny to imagine that there is indeed at least one monster and, therefore, that his dad didn’t really lie to him.

“Across the series, this allows us to explore another big theme. In a show about monsters, we are able to posit the question ‘what if there really aren’t any?’ In a chaotic world, it’s tempting to organise it in binary terms. ‘We’re good, they’re bad. I’m right, they’re wrong.’ It’s comforting to have enemies, to have monsters. It’s nice for the world to be polarised because it’s simple, and we know where we stand.

“But what if it’s not that simple? What if the world is mainly full of human beings just like us, who are chaotic, contradictory, messy, fucked-up, wonderful and awful all at the same time? What if we’re all just improvising wildly, trying our best and occasionally succeeding but more often than not failing? What if your beloved father wasn’t a hero after all, but a man destroyed by grief who allowed love to become abuse? And what if your angry, sullen, misogynistic cousin wasn’t a horrible guy, but a lost young man trying and failing to find his place in the world?

“The lesson Danny learns over the course of the series is that the world isn’t simply divided into monsters and heroes. And it’s not the world of his old movies, with white picket fences and no sad endings. It’s complex, hard, dirty and scary – but also rich and full and wonderful and rewarding. And crucially, it’s real.”

The series is produced by Clerkenwell Films, whose joint MD Petra Fried (and Somewhere Boy exec producer) says she was excited when Jackson brought her an idea for a show that “focuses on the creation of masculine identity from the dual perspectives of two boys, one who has been underexposed to the world around him, having been locked away for his whole life, and another who has been overexposed, via social media and online porn.”

She continues: “Working with Pete on the journey these boys take as they explore the real world together for the first time, and the subtle and emotional way their relationship develops, was a wonderful process to be part of.

“What was also really important to me was the way in which Somewhere Boy spans a number of genres without settling in any one camp – it’s a complex hybrid of family drama, coming-ofage story, social realism, fairy-tale gothic horror and revenge thriller. As a result, it’s always been a difficult show to categorise, something that can make a broadcaster nervous. But luckily Lee Mason at Channel 4 [the drama commissioner who has since joined Disney] took a punt on the show, and it’s partly the fact that it doesn’t sit squarely in any one genre that has helped it stand out from the crowd.”

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Are we keeping calm and carrying on when we should be stopping and saying ‘what the fuck?’

Pete Jackson

Pete Jackson

Samuel Bottomley (left) plays Aaron while Lewis Gribben is Danny

FIE MINUTES WITH...

Tony Grisoni

The Red Riding, Southcliffe and The City & The City writer on his latest projects, working with the European Writers Club and why he doesn’t want to waste time.

Hi Tony, what are you working on at the moment?

Marlow (about two feuding families) is a project I’m cowriting and coproducing with Simon Maxwell (Deep State). We started developing that way back, two or three years ago now, and we decided to start working it out on spec. It’s tough doing that because you’re trying to earn a living, but it does give you real breathing space. We’ve got his company, (commissioner) BritBox and we’re pushing forward with that. We’re hoping to do a late-spring shoot next year.

I was working on this French initiative called Le Groupe Ouest, a writing workshop in Brittany. I started working with them and met this FrenchItalian screenwriter called Laura Piani, who is based in Paris. The two of us got together and thought we could write something together, so we started working up this idea about Mary Wollstonecraft, the British radical from the 18th century. She was a Brit who joined the French revolution and then went on this great trip to Scandinavia. We’re working on that together.

Naples 44 is another one, with Andrea Calderwood (The Last King of Scotland) producing. It’s from a book by Norman Lewis, an amazing memoir of the end of the war. That’s the backdrop. There was also a film in the 90s called Croupier and I’m working up a TV show drawn from that.

It’s the life of a writer that you’re always working on projects that won’t ultimately be commissioned...

There are always five. If you have five projects you’re constantly juggling, you’re hoping one of them will come to the surface.

How would you describe the landscape for a writer in the television industry?

It’s tough. I’ve always loved movies but there is an obsession with the ‘writer-director,’ so it’s quite difficult to get to a position where you’re writing a screenplay and someone else is directing it. That’s why so many writers went towards TV, because the opportunities were there. The TV series is the dominant art form of television, it seems, and the trick is there are always things you want to do and things

broadcasters feel they want. But I can only do what I want to do. I’d rather do that than be given a shopping list.

You’re also involved in the European Writers Club (EWC). Tell us about that.

It’s early days with that but there’s a genuine attempt to engage with the broadcasters and for there to be some dialogue between broadcasters and writers from an early stage.

Thomas Gammeltoft, whose baby it is, is a Danish producer working on a project called A Family Affair. I’m in love with the project so I worked with Thomas on that and we got to know each other. Then we met up at one or two things and Thomas said, ‘Do you want to be part of the EWC?’ The idea is basically to get established writers together with European producers and broadcasters and to start building ideas together from the bottom up. There’s some notion of it being a push back against the streamers, which you’re seeing now with the appetite for big European coproductions and a look to local streamers. I can only support that.

It’s all change. We’ve had the pandemic, we’ve got war in Ukraine, we’ve got people with less money in their pocket and choosing to cancel subscriptions. Things are changing a little bit. Nothing against the US streamers per se – amazing stuff has come out of them – but I’m quintessentially European so I want to see homegrown stuff. If we’re going to have streamers, I’d rather them be here.

How has your writing process changed?

My writing has gotten leaner. It depends who you’re working with. If you’re writing with a good broadcaster and good executive, the thing improves all the time. If you’re working with a bad broadcaster, what happens is their notes will be very prescriptive and they’ll ask you to explain things with dialogue. If you find yourself there, you’ve really got to leave. If I was just starting out, I’d stay, but I wouldn’t now. You can’t waste time.

The great thing is audiences are so sophisticated. It’s about keeping up with the audience. I’m not into superheroes but I did get into Marvel a little bit because I wanted to understand the Marvel multiverse. I really wanted to know more about it. I realised that it’s brilliant marketing, but I don’t think it’s totally cynical. I think they enjoy writing all those interconnected stories. Now I wonder if you could have a multiverse but not with superheroes; if you could do it with something else. DQ

The City & The City Red Riding

SIX OF THE BEST

Ailish McElmeel

The co-founder of Ireland’s Deadpan Pictures (The South Westerlies) picks a mixture of acclaimed US and UK series, a hit French comedy-drama and an animated show with ‘near-perfect storytelling.’

The Sopranos

From the first beat of the opening title music to the final note of Don’t Stop Believing, I was enthralled. The quality never dropped across all six seasons, with arresting characters that were brilliantly portrayed. The power plays between the various mafia families, echoed by the domestic power plays between Tony and Carmela were utterly compelling. So Italian, so New Jersey and yet so universal! It was the first show we rewatched during lockdown and it did not disappoint.

My So-Called Life

This was the first series I felt truly connected to as a teen. Claire Danes starred as the wonderfully relatable Angela: whip-smart, funny, overly obsessed with boys and finding her position in the world. The world of characters, despite the Pittsburgh setting, reflected my angst-filled teenage experience in rural Ireland – it was perfectly universal. It balanced comedy, drama and romance, and the casting of Jared Leto did not go unnoticed by my hormone-filled teenage self! While it only lasted one season, this show made me realise TV was for me, not just my parents. It spoke directly to me, and that was exciting.

Back to Life

This is one of the myriad of recent British shows (alongside

I Hate Suzie, Breeders Catastrophe) I would have loved Deadpan to have made. While the vaguely gloomy seaside setting is fantastic in itself, the mystery element of season one surrounding the crime our lead apparently committed, the sweet teenageesque romance and

the sharp, irreverent tone also kept me tuned in. And the authentic characterisation made it perfect TV. Daisy Haggard’s Miri is part-hapless innocent, part-self-saboteur and rather embarrassingly relatable.

Call My Agent

Coming from rural Ireland, a trip to Paris (albeit in the form of watching TV) has obvious attractions. Aside from a great setting, Call My Agent (called Dix pour cent in France) has great characters, cameos and a nice balance of work and personal relationships. Unfolding in the world of fi lm actors, the show could easily be too ‘inside baseball,’ but ends up being really fun while also sending up stereotypes and clichés. Best of all, though, is the tone of the series. Played with a straight face but with plenty of laughs, Call My Agent is great deadpan entertainment.

“Succession works entirely on the scripts. Somehow, writer Jesse Armstrong has made me care about intricate commercial deal points of media takeovers.

Ailish McElmeel

I May Destroy You

Michaela Coel’s tour de force is possibly the most important drama of the past decade. An intimate, visceral exploration of sexual assault, sexual politics, modern dating and consent, it offers the audience an aspirational ‘every girl’ in Arabella, only to put her through the most terrible events. Coel deftly intertwined mental exhaustion/collapse and anxiety with the darkest of humour. It’s an arresting watch. This series should be mandatory viewing.

Succession

”No list of the best drama programmes could possibly be complete without a mention of Succession. Beyond the brilliant acting and top-class excess in terms of its production values, at its heart, Succession works entirely on the scripts. Somehow, writer Jesse Armstrong has made me care about the intricate commercial deal points of media takeovers. To be able to sustain an entire hour-long episode around a board meeting and a vote of confidence is nothing short of a work of genius.

Special mention: Bluey

This may be a surprise addition, but this Australian animation has been a constant, repeated feature in my life since early 2020. Yes, it’s a children’s animated series, but the creators are master storytellers, working in perfect little sevenminute chunks. The emotional resonance of the fi nal beat of most episodes has me drying my eyes. The show exposes the reality of parenting, but does so with warmth. The Sleepy Time episode – where the smallest dog (yes, it’s an animated series about a family of dogs) is dreaming of being an isolated planet swirling around the solar system, only to be drawn to the heat of the sun (in reality her mother as she sleepwalks into bed beside her) – is near-perfect storytelling.

Dix pour cent (Call My Agent) Bluey

WHO’S WHO

Actors

Lily Allen • Hanna Ardéhn • Rhianne Barreto • Miguel Bernardeau • Aníta Briem

Robert Carlyle • Charithra Chandran • Bridget Christie • Alaqua Cox

Marta Dusseldorp • Sinéad Keenan • Toko Miura • Peter Mullan • India Mullen

Alexandra Rapaport • Ukweli Roach • Meera Syal • Nina Toussaint-White

Lynn Van Royen • Lincoln Younes

Directors

Francesca Archibugi • Philip Barantini • Otto Bathurst • Corrie Chen

Christiana Ebohon-Green • Lucy Forbes • Dennie Gordon • Jannik Johansen

Nikolaj Lie Kaas • Aneil Karia • Tinge Krishnan • Måns Månsson • Marlee Matlin

Shane Meadows • Jocelyn Moorhouse • Jonas Risvig • Ben Taylor Warwick Thornton • Helen Walsh • Joe Wright

Writers

Morwenna Banks • Cash Carraway • Ainslie Clouston • Poppy Cogan

Sara Collins • Isis Davis • Hania Elkington • Andrea Gibb • Daf James

Marlon James • Amy Jephta • Sara Johnsen • Øystein Karlsen

Melanie Marnich • Caroline Moran • Abi Morgan • Joe Murtagh

Saskia Noort • Jacquelin Perske • Maya Sondhi

Series

Austral • Berlin • Black Snow • The Burning Girls

Deutsches haus (German House) • Devil’s Peak • Fahrenheit

Festning Norge (The Fortress) • Fleishman is in Trouble • Hagen • Marlene

Nautilus • Oderbruch • Ouija • Platform 7 • Sanningen (Fallen) • The Seed Tierra de mujeres (Land of Women) • Truelove • Wool

Trends & Trailblazers

Cheaters • Doctor Who • Endeavour • Fantasy epics • Fertility dramas

Football fever • Happy birthday Beeb • Heartstopper • Nicôle Lecky

Magazine to screen • Rose Matafeo • Jeff Pope • Reunions • Adjani Salmon

Sports biopics • Tech thrillers • Triple C • Unfinished business • Vampires • Westerns

EDITORIAL Editorial director Ed Waller ed@c21media.net, Editor of C21Media.net Jonathan Webdale jonathan@c21media.net, DQ editor Michael Pickard michael@c21media.net, C21MediaChief sub editor Gary Smitherman gary@c21media.net, DQ Chief sub editor John Winfield john@c21media.net, News editor Clive Whittingham clive@c21media.net, Senior reporters Nico Franks nico@c21media. net, Karolina Kaminska karolina@c21media.net, Neil Batey neil@c21media.net, North America Jordan Pinto jordan@c21media.net, Research editor Gün Akyuz gun@c21media.net, Head of television Jason Olive jason@c21media.net, Video editor/motion designer Adrian Ruiz Martin adrian@c21media.net

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PRODUCTION Operations director Lucy Scott lucy@c21media.net, Production manager Eleanore Hayes eleanore@c21media.net, Team assistant Courtney Brewster courtney@c21media.net, Finance director Susan Dean susan@c21media.net, Finance manager Marina Sedra marina@c21media.net, Finance officer Shuhely Mirza shuhely@c21media.net, Editor-in-chief & managing director David Jenkinson david@c21media.net