Netflix Announces 7 New UK Produced Shows, Inc ‘Lockwood & Co’ & New Rowan Atkinson Comedy
Today, Netflix has announced 7 new shows, all of which are to be produced in the UK, including a new comedy from Rowan Atkinson, supernatural action-adventure ‘Lockwood & Co’ from Joe Cornish, a football comedy EPed by Sam Mendes, an adaptation of Frances Hardinge novel ‘Cuckoo Song’, and more!
“Setting up a team entirely based in the U.K. was always about being able to better connect to the fantastic program makers we have here,” commented said Anne Mensah, Netflix’s vice president U.K. original series. “To provide a space for writers, producers, directors and actors that feels local, friendly and familiar but also provides talent the opportunity to make shows that will impact on a global scale. UK-made stories really do speak to the world.”
Here’s a breakdown of the new shows:
Lockwood & Co
In London, where the most gifted teenage ghost-hunters venture nightly into perilous combat with deadly spirits, amidst the many corporate, adult-run agencies, one stands alone: independent of any commercial imperative or adult supervision – a tiny startup, run by two teenage boys and a newly arrived, supremely psychically gifted girl, a renegade trio destined to unravel a mystery that will change the course of history: Lockwood & Co. A supernatural action-adventure detective series, based on the best-selling novels by Jonathan Stroud.
Joe Cornish (Attack the Block, Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn) is set to exec produce, write and serve as lead director via Complete Fiction, the production company he formed by Nira Park and Edgar Wright.
Man Vs Bee
Renowned actor and comedian Rowan Atkinson plays a new character in this riotous comedy. A man finds himself at war with a bee while housesitting a luxurious mansion. Who will win, and what irreparable damage will be done in the process?
The comedy is created by Atkinson (‘Mr Bean’, ‘Johnny English’, ‘Blackadder’) alongside Will Davies (‘Johnny English’, ‘How to Train Your Dragon’), and would seem to be a solid outlet for Atkinson’s brilliant physical comedy.
The Red Zone
This is a comedy about football, but also not about football. Mainly it’s a story about the people and the surfaces that collide in the orbit of this strange, obsessional world of bluffers, sharks and genuine talent. It’s about friendship, trust and families, in a world where no one is actually your friend, where there is zero trust and where families tend to devour each other every six months.
From writers Barney Ronay & Jonathan Liew (sports writers for The Guardian), with Sam Mendes (‘1917’, ‘Britannia’) exec producing.
Cuckoo Song
A gripping horror story about two warring sisters – one human, one monster – who must unite to reverse a supernatural pact gone horribly wrong, and with it mend their grief-stricken family. Based on the novel by Frances Hardinge.
The series is written by Sarah Dollard (Bridgerton, Doctor Who, Being Human), Andrea Gibb (Elizabeth Is Missing, Swallows & Amazons, Dear Frankie), and Corinna Faith (The Innocents, The Power).
Baby Reindeer
Based on a compelling true story, the hit 2019 Edinburgh Fringe one-man stage-play follows the writer/performer Richard Gadd’s warped relationship with his female stalker and the impact it has on him as he is ultimately forced to face a deep, dark buried trauma…
Gadd is 2016 Edinburgh Comedy Award Winner and has written episodes for ‘Sex Education’.
Half Bad
Sixteen-year-old Nathan is the illegitimate son of the world’s most feared witch. He’s spent his whole life being monitored for signs he may follow the same destructive path as his father. But as tensions escalate, the old boundaries between “good” and “bad” fray and Nathan will discover what sort of person he truly is. This is an angsty, roller-coaster ride of a young adult show about a troubled kid who has the indomitable will to survive and defy the odds. The series is based on the Half Bad trilogy of books written by Sally Green.
An angsty, roller-coaster ride of a young adult show, from ‘Giri/Haji’ and ‘Humans’ writer Joe Barton.
The Seven Deaths Of Evelyn Hardcastle
Writer and creator Sophie Petzal (‘Blood’, ‘The Last Kingdom’) brings us this mind-bending murder mystery which presents an intriguing puzzle – how do you solve a murder when every time you are getting close to the answer, you wake up in someone else’s body?
The series is adapted from the best-selling, Costa award-winning debut novel by Stuart Turton.
All seven new commissions will be written and produced across the UK in the coming months.
