Quizzical Pictures, the highly regarded, award-winning independent South African production company, is delighted to announce that its newest project is an eight-part, colourful ‘cosy crime’ series called Murder By The Sea and that it will be launched to the international co-production market at Content London next week.

This news comes hot on the heels of the completion of two other major crime thrillers: season two of Reyka (8×60), the internationally acclaimed, gritty drama starring Kim Engelbrecht (The Flash, Raised by Wolves) as the eponymous detective, and White Lies (8×60), a new series starring Natalie Dormer (Game of Thrones, Picnic at Hanging Rock) as an investigative journalist in Cape Town trying to get to the bottom of her estranged brother’s murder. Both series were produced for Fremantle and M-Net. Season one of Reyka sold to more than 140 territories, received two International Emmy Award nominations, and won four South African Film and Television Awards while White Lies was a Hot Pick at MIPCOM this year and is being featured as a Hot Property at Content London.

Murder By The Sea is currently in development and being scripted by acclaimed writer Darrel Bristow-Bovey, based on an original idea from Bristow-Bovey and Joanna Simon. Bristow-Bovey regularly collaborates with Quizzical Pictures, having written White Lies, amongst many others, as well as joining Quizzical’s Nimrod Geva to pitch crime thriller Paradys at Series Mania in 2022, which went on to beat 700 entries and win the Best Project Award.

Set in Blaasgat, a fictional coastal town named after its giant blowhole, and with the spectacular backdrop of the South African Garden Route, Murder By The Sea is a warm, gently comedic and character-driven series that’s packed with sunshine, whales, mountains and of course, murder. When Lennart Cato, a local man-made-good, is found dead inside a papier-mâché whale on the opening night of a new Whale Museum that he’s funding, the locals turn to town resident and retired old-school thespian Lawrence Mantooth for answers. Once famous for his 80s TV show, where he played detective Pericles van Breda, Lawrence has found that few locals see the line between actor and character and often call on him to help with their little mysteries. Now, with this terrible crime on their doorstep, he’s viewed as the obvious person to find out whodunnit – and why? However, the real detective in Blaasgat is the woman behind the man – Lawrence’s funny, curious, and keenly observant wife, Dawn Mantooth-Solomon.

Nimrod Geva, producer and head of development at Quizzical Pictures comments: We are excited to be in development on Murder By The Sea and to once again be working with the incredibly talented Darrel Bristow-Bovey, along with Joanna Simon. This new series leans into our expertise in bringing compelling crime stories to the screen but moves away from the more recent dark, tense productions such as Reyka and White Lies to create something light, bright, funny and fresh.”

Harriet Gavshon, Quizzical Pictures co-founder and creative director adds: “Cosy crime is increasingly popular with international broadcasters and streamers. From early conversations, we are confident that this original piece of IP will tick many boxes with the potential co-production partners we’ll meet next week. Furthermore, with our skilled talent base, production economies, great weather and incredible locations – such as the Garden Route – South Africa is fast becoming an attractive destination for international producers.”

Darrel Bristow-Bovey, who also serves as executive producer on the series adds: “Joanna and I have thoroughly enjoyed creating the world of Murder By The Sea, with its small-town idiosyncrasies and eccentric characters, and we’re delighted to be collaborating once again with the fantastic team at Quizzical. With their beautifully crafted shows, a creative and commercial vision that is both ambitious and meticulous, and their profoundly respectful approach to creative partnership, Nimrod, Harriet and the Quizzical team are doing more than anyone I know to bring authentically entertaining contemporary South African stories to audiences around the world, and I’m very proud to be associated with them.”

Darrel Bristow-Bovey is one of South Africa’s most prolific writing talents. A former newspaper columnist, he has won multiple South African Film and Television Awards and has written seven feature films, including this year’s festive-season romantic comedy for Netflix. His play Priest with Balloons won the 2018 Scribe Award. He has also published six books and was a finalist for the Caine Prize for African Literature. His most recent book, the best-selling Finding Endurance, was distributed in eight countries and is entering its fourth reprint. His other TV series include The Lab, Hard Copy and the forthcoming Baby Farm and The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives for Netflix.

Quizzical Pictures is one of South Africa’s leading film and television production houses. A black-owned company with 30 years of experience, it enjoys a solid reputation as a creative innovator in the industry and has won countless awards over the years, including a prestigious Peabody Award for Intersexions and a Rose D’Or for Hopeville. Other recent productions include Savage Beauty for Netflix, The Girl from St. Agnes for Showmax and Desert Rose for M-Net. In addition to global platforms such as Netflix, its shows have travelled the world to be shown on broadcasters such as Channel 4 in the UK, CBC in Canada, SBS in Australia, HBO in Latin America and RTL in Germany.