Further to the success of the Indian adaptations of Your Honor and Fauda (Tanaav) on Sony LIV, yes Studios is  announced that a third of its scripted titles – Magpie – is to be adapted for the platform.

The gritty crime drama’s Hindi working title is Kan Khajura, which means centipede.

Magpie (S1: 11×40 and S2: 8×40), whose second season has just run on yes TV to rave reviews, was produced by yes TV and Dana Eden and Shula Spiegel at Donna & Shula Productions (Tehran). It tells the story of Asa Katz, a man serving 17 years in prison for murder who gets released early on the condition that he cooperates with the police as their informant – a role (known as a magpie) that he also had in jail. Asa returns to his old neighbourhood and his older brother, David, who has little regard for his younger sibling. Asa constantly tries to resolve this, but numerous conflicting interests put him in precarious situations, and he finds himself torn between his life of crime and his work with the police, while skilfully navigating both worlds to his advantage.

Sharon Levi, managing director of yes Studios, comments: “We are honoured that this new format deal for Magpie means Sony LIV will soon become home to a third of our drama series. With its key themes of sibling conflict and a desire for a fresh start while constantly being pulled back into an old life, Magpie’s characters and storylines are instantly recognisable – and ripe for adaptation. We look forward to working with the Sony LIV team as it develops the series for its audience and cannot wait to view the final programme once it has been completed.”

Saugata Mukherjee, head of content of Sony LIV, said, “With the Indian adaptation of Magpie, we are aiming to weave global threads into the tapestry of our culture. The character is complex and piques the viewer’s interest with a compelling storyline. We are happy to collaborate with yes Studios once again to bring forth this highly acclaimed thriller.”

Magpie was created by Adam Bizanski, Omri Shenhar and Dana Eden and written by Adam Bizanski and Omri Shenhar. yes Studios is the distributor of the finished programme and format. The series won Best Screenplay at the Berlin TV Series Festival in 2019 and was nominated at the same event for Best International Series and Best Performance.