A+E Networks International’s newest scripted series, Miss Scarlet and the Duke, co-produced by A+E International and Element 8 Entertainment, garnered significant rantings on Seven Network in Australia and UKTV in the U.K., it was announced today by Patrick Vien, Group Managing Director, International, A+E Networks.
On the heels of recent success, Miss Scarlet and the Duke will debut in the U.S. on January 17, 2021, at 8:00 p.m. as part of the prestigious MASTERPIECE’s 50th Season on PBS.
Premiering in March 2020 on Alibi in the U.K., Miss Scarlet and the Duke ranked as the #1 program on Alibi over the last 12 months, significantly outperforming its timeslot among key demos. Similarly, the series’ debut in June 2020 on 7TWO in Australia ranked #1 in its timeslot and ranked as the #1 program over the last 12 months among key demos.
“Miss Scarlet and the Duke is an ideal primetime show for a very broad and truly global audience that loves great detective stories and a constant love-tension between two lead characters,” said Vien. “This already popular series is but one remarkable example of A+E’s compelling, first-run hits amongst the 800 hours of fresh content we presented at MIPCOM 2020.”
Miss Scarlet and the Duke (6 x 1 hour) stars Kate Phillips (Peaky Blinders, The Crown, Downton Abbey feature film) opposite Stuart Martin (Medici, Jamestown), who plays Detective Inspector William Wellington aka the Duke. His nickname derived from not only sharing the same name as the great 19th-century war hero The Duke of Wellington, but also the same reputation for being a leader of men.
Andrew Gower (Carnival Row, Black Mirror, Outlander) plays Rupert Parker, Eliza’s business partner, and friend. At the start of the series, he invests in Eliza’s new detective agency and is one of the few encouraging voices on her side.
Ansu Kabia (This May Destroy You, Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw and the upcoming MASTERPIECE presentation of the BBC’s The Long Song) plays Moses, a well-known crook who, despite the Duke’s objections, Eliza sometimes hires for a variety of jobs, making use of his skills and knowledge of the world.
SAG Award-winning actor Kevin Doyle (Downton Abbey) portrays Eliza Scarlet’s late father, Henry Scarlet. Henry is at the very heart of the show through flashbacks and in Eliza’s imagination as they explore the special and often complicated relationship between a father and daughter.
Filmed in and around Dublin, Miss Scarlet and the Duke is created and written by Rachael New (Grantchester for ITV, The Mallorca Files for BBC). Ben Edwards (Trollied, Stella) is a contributing writer. The series is directed by Declan O’Dwyer (Free Rein, Atlantis) and also features Helen Norton (Ella Enchanted, Raw), Cathy Belton (Philomena, Red Rock), and Danny Midwinter (From Hell, Interview with a Hitman). Todd Berger, Patrick Irwin, Jin Ishimoto, Patricia Lenahan Ishimoto, Harvey Myman, Rachael New, and Declan O’Dwyer are executive producers.
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, she is left penniless in a time where marriage is the only option for financial security for a young woman. But the headstrong Eliza has an ace in her bonnet; her father’s business, a detective agency, which she is determined to make successful. But, operating in a man’s world is not an easy task in Victorian London and when she manages to get herself into trouble, in steps the consummate rogue Detective Inspector William Wellington of Scotland Yard, aka “The Duke” to help … and hinder her.
Eliza and Duke strike up a mismatched, fiery relationship as they unintentionally team up to solve crimes in the murkiest depths of 1880s London.
Miss Scarlet & The Duke is an A+E NETWORKS INTERNATIONAL and ELEMENT 8 ENTERTAINMENT production co-produced with MASTERPIECE in association with Eighty Seven Films and Bandidos Yanquis.
