Keshet International (KI) announced further sales of its critically acclaimed BBC One drama The A Word. BBC First has acquired the six part drama for Africa and Benelux, as has UKTV New Zealand, Polish public broadcaster TVP, Brazil’s no. 1 multichannel cable and satellite TV service, Globosat and South Korea’s EBS public service channel. Season two of the show, co-produced by Fifty Fathoms and Keshet UK, is soon to go into production.
The deals follow the recently closed two season premium subscription deal with Amazon Prime Video in the US, as well as the first wave of sales which saw Canada’s national public broadcaster CBC, BBC First Australia, YLE Finland, RUV Iceland, HRT Croatia, RTV Slovenia, SVT Sweden and YES Israel acquire the series.
Season one of The A Word was a standout success, attracting a consolidated average audience of 5.5 million and a 22% market share on BBC One. The first series also generated critical claim in the US where it aired on Sundance TV which is also committed to the much anticipated second season.
The A Word is a co-production between Fifty Fathoms Productions and Keshet UK. It is written by BAFTA winner and Golden Globe nominee Peter Bowker (Marvellous, Blackpool) and directed by Oscar nominee and BAFTA winner Peter Cattaneo (The Full Monty, Rev). The A Word based on Keshet’s original series Yellow Peppers, which was created and written by Keren Margalit.