ITV has landed the free-to-air rights for two series from Disney – The critically acclaimed miniseries drama ‘Under the Banner of Heaven‘ starring Andrew Garfield, and season one of the utterly fantastic British superpowered comedy series ‘Extraordinary‘.
The wonderful comedy series ‘Extraordinary’, a Disney+ UK original production, welcomes you to a world where everyone over the age of 18 develops a superpower… everyone, that is, except for Jen (Máiréad Tyers – ‘Belfast’). She’s turning 25 and is still waiting to get hers. She’s not even fussy about what that could be: super speed? Laser eyes? The ability to plug in a USB the right way every single time? She’ll take it. Like a caterpillar surrounded by butterflies, Jen feels unable to move forward, stuck in a dead-end job in a party shop and occasionally hooking up with Luke (Ned Porteous – ‘Eastenders’), a flaky young man with the irritatingly cool ability to fly.
Luckily, Jen has Carrie (Sofia Oxenham – ‘Cursed’) to stop her from wallowing in her own self-pity. Inseparable since school, their relationship cycles between sister, parent, and wingman. Together they share an East London flat with Carrie’s long-term boyfriend, Kash (Bilal Hasna – ‘Screw’). Carrie has the power to channel the dead but feels she’s been overshadowed by her own party trick: doesn’t anyone care about what she has to say? Kash takes his power – the ability to turn back time – very seriously, but he’s not above using it to undo minor embarrassments, or moments when he says exactly the wrong thing to long-suffering Carrie. The fourth member of the flat is a stray cat, named Jizzlord by the gang, who’s harbouring a surprising secret: turns out even cats have more power than Jen.
Adrift in a big, confusing world and armed with nothing but a bit of hope and a lot of desperation, Jen begins her journey to find her maybe-superpower. But in doing so, she might discover the joy of simply being ordinary instead.
The series is written by series creator and writer Emma Moran, and directed by Toby McDonald (‘Ragdoll’), Jennifer Sheridan (‘Rules of the Game’), and Nadira Amrani (‘On the Edge’). ‘Extraordinary‘ is executive produced by Sally Woodward Gentle, Lee Morris and Charles Dawson for Sid Gentle Films, the BAFTA, Golden Globe, Emmy, and Peabody Award-winning production company behind ‘Killing Eve’. The series is produced by Charlie Palmer and executive produced by Johanna Devereaux, Vice President of Scripted Content, for Disney+.
FX production ‘Under the Banner of Heaven’ is a limited series inspired by the true crime bestseller by Jon Krakauer, follows the events that led to the 1984 murder of Brenda Wright Lafferty (Daisy Edgar-Jones – Cold Feet, Normal People, War of the Worlds) and her baby daughter in a suburb in the Salt Lake Valley, Utah.
As Detective Jeb Pyre (Andrew Garfield – The Amazing Spider-Man, Tick, Tick… Boom! ) investigates events that transpired within the Lafferty family, he uncovers buried truths about the origins of the LDS religion and the violent consequences of unyielding faith. What Pyre, a devout Mormon, unearths leads him to question his own faith.
The seven-episode limited series also stars Sam Worthington (Avatar), Denise Gough (Andor), Wyatt Russell (MCU’s John Walker), Billy Howle (Glue), Gil Birmingham (Yellowstone), Adelaide Clemens (Rectify), Rory Culkin (Signs), Seth Numrich (Madam Secretary), Chloe Pirrie (War & Peace) and Sandra Seacat.
The series is created by Academy Award-winner Dustin Lance Black (Milk, J. Edgar), who also serves as showrunner and executive producer. Also serving as executive producers are Brian Grazer, Ron Howard and Anna Culp for Imagine Television; Jason Bateman and Michael Costigan of Aggregate Films; David Mackenzie and Gillian Berrie. Under the Banner of Heaven is produced by FX Productions.
ITV hasn’t yet set exact dates for either of these shows coming free-to-air in the UK, but ‘Under the Banner of Heaven‘ will stream on ITVX with ‘Extraordinary‘ airing on both ITVX and ITV2, both in the first half of 2024. Both series air already available on Disney+ in the UK.
