Eccho Rights will be presenting the brand new Channel 5 drama Desperate Measures to international buyers for the first time at Series Mania Forum in Lille. Produced by Clapperboard, in association with Eccho Rights, the series is currently in production with transmission slated for later this year on Channel 5.

The drama follows diligent bank clerk Rowan, who has raised her teenage son Finn on a lawless estate whilst paying off her own absent father’s debts. Rowan’s life spirals out of control when Finn is coerced into a botched drug deal by a local gang. With Finn’s life on the line and a violent gang leader encroaching on her life, Rowan is faced with recouping the money that Finn lost. Desperate to save her son and having exhausted all other options, Rowan commits to a dangerous heist at the bank she works in.

“This is a hugely exciting project, a dramatic thriller but with a deeply relatable human story at its heart – a normal woman doing whatever it takes to protect her beloved son,” says Adam Barth, Head of Development, Acquisition and Co-production at Eccho Rights. “We are hugely impressed what we’ve seen from the first weeks of shooting, and we’ve already got a number of international clients looking at pre-sale deals ahead of meetings in Lille next week.”

This week Channel 5 also released details of the cast for the series, with a line up of UK stars that will be familiar to worldwide audiences including Amanda Abbington (Mr Selfridge, Sherlock) who will play the lead role of Rowan, and Warren Brown (The Responder, Trigger Point, Strike Back) starring as Rowan’s ex-partner Patrick, a career criminal who she reconnects with in order to help Finn.

Mike Benson and Julie Ryan serve as executive producers for Clapperboard, whilst Adam Barth and Nicola Söderlund are on board as executive producers for Eccho Rights. Helen Ostler (The Last Kingdom) is producer, whilst Anthony Philipson (Our Girl) is the director of the series. The series was ordered for Channel 5 by Sebastian Cardwell, Deputy Chief Content Officer UK, at Paramount.