Alibi Picks Up Thriller ‘The Gulf’ & Crime Drama ‘Miss Scarlet and The Duke’ To Premiere In 2020
UKTV’s Alibi has picked up two new series for broadcast in the UK it has been announced today – high-end thriller ‘The Gulf‘ from Banijay Rights, and Nineteenth-century crime drama, ‘Miss Scarlet and The Duke‘, co-produced by A+E International and Element 8 Entertainment.
German-New Zealand thriller ‘The Gulf’ centres around the moral disintegration of Detective Jess Savage, who finds herself caught between upholding the legal justice system and morality, as she investigates crimes on her home patch of Waiheke Island, New Zealand. The series stars Kate Elliott (‘Wentworth’) as Detective Savage and Ido Drent (‘Shortland Street’, ‘Roman Empire’) as D.S. Justin Harding.
“We are really pleased to have acquired this exciting new thriller for Alibi as we continue to include the very best of international crime drama in our schedule,” comments Daniel Thomas, Acquisitions Manager at UKTV. “Our viewers are extremely discerning and The Gulf, with its unique take on a crime story set against the incredible backdrop of New Zealand, will have wide appeal.”
‘The Gulf’ is an international co-production from Banijay Group’s Screentime New Zealand, Lippy Pictures, German fiction specialist Letterbox Filmproduktion, a member company of the Studio Hamburg Production Group, and broadcasters ZDF and TV3.
‘Miss Scarlet and The Duke’ is a full-throttle crime drama about the first-ever female detective in Victorian London. When Eliza Scarlet’s father dies, he leaves her penniless in a time where marriage is the only option for financial security. But the headstrong Eliza has an ace up her bonnet; her father’s business, a detective agency. But to operate in this man’s world she needs a partner.
Step forward consummate rogue Detective Inspector William Wellington of Scotland Yard, aka “The Duke”. Eliza and Duke strike up a mismatched, fiery relationship as they team up to solve crime in the murkiest depths of 1880’s London.
Kate Phillips (‘Peaky Blinders’) stars as Eliza, whilst Stuart Martin (‘Jamestown’, ‘Medici’) take the role of “The Duke”. The drama is created and written by Rachael New (‘Grantchester’, ‘The Mallorca Files’), with Ben Edwards (‘Trollied’, ‘Stella’) as a contributing writer.
Along with being picked up by Alibi in the UK, the series will debut on PBS in the U.S. and it has also been sold CBC Canada, Yandex (Russia), Seven (Australia), Lightbox (New Zealand), RTL Germany, Mesimvria (Cyprus) and OTE (Greece).
“We are absolutely thrilled with the global momentum for this new series, built on a strong line-up of top tier international broadcasters and kicking off under the auspices of the world-renowned, multi-award-winning MASTERPIECE franchise,” commented Patrick Vien, Group Managing Director, International, A+E Networks International. “It is also extremely gratifying that our co-pro division has taken flight in a such short time with this series and a number of other scripted and unscripted projects already in the works.”
‘The Gulf‘ will premiere on Alibi in Spring 2020, whilst ‘Miss Scarlet and The Duke‘ will also air in 2020, but does not yet have a broadcast date.
