![](https://tva.onscreenasia.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/1-This-Town-BBC.jpg)
l-r: Levi Brown as Dante Williams, Ben Rose as Bardon Quinn & Jordan Bolger as Gregory Williams
Banijay Rights, the global distribution arm of Banijay Entertainment, has announced it has signed a landmark premium scripted package deal with Movistar Plus+, Spain’s leading TV and SVOD service.
Comprising more than 60 hours of stand-out drama, the agreement includes BAFTA and Golden Globe-winning Wolf Hall, Steven Knight’s high-octane series This Town, upcoming family saga The Hardacres, historical drama Marie Antoinette, BAFTA award-winning The Sixth Commandment and coming-of-age series My Mad Fat Diary.
Marion Vergnaud, SVP Iberia, Italy and Malta, Banijay Rights, who brokered the deal, said: “From the inner workings of the Tudor court to sprawling family sagas, our catalogue contains an eclectic range of premium dramas, and we are thrilled to be working with Movistar Plus+ to bring this selection to Spanish audiences.”
Sonia Salas, Content Manager-Series, Movistar Plus+, added: “We are very happy that Banijay Entertainment’s titles will join our catalogue of international series. Together with Movistar Plus+ original productions, our acquisitions make up an offer of premium quality series, of varied genres, tackling current themes and always with a differentiating point to please our Spanish audience.”
Wolf Hall, directed by Peter Kosminsky (The Undeclared War, The State) and adapted for television by Peter Straughan (Tinker Tailor Solider Spy, Frank), stars Academy Award-winner Mark Rylance in his BAFTA-winning role of Thomas Cromwell, with Emmy Award-winner Damian Lewis as King Henry VIII. The Golden Globe-winning series was produced by Playground Television for the BBC and Masterpiece PBS and the eagerly awaited second series, Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light, has completed filming.
This Town is created, written and executive produced by Steven Knight. The series is directed by Paul Whittington and produced by Tim Whitby and Charlotte Surtees. Executive Producers are Karen Wilson, Katie McAleese and Martin Haines for Kudos, and Jo McClellan for the BBC. Matthew James Wilkinson (Stigma Films), Nick Angel and Laura Conway (Kudos North) serve as Co-Executive Producers, Alice Webb and Marc Robinson (Mercury Studios) as Co-Producers.
The Hardacres chronicles the rags to riches story of a working-class family in 1890s Yorkshire. A sweeping family saga adapted by Amy Roberts and Loren McLaughlan (The Winter King, Call the Midwife), the series follows the lives, loves and fortunes of the ‘Hardacres’ as they move from a grimy fish dock to a grand country estate. The Hardacre family consists of Claire Cooper (The Continental, The Peripheral) and Liam McMahon (Hunger, The Secret, Warrior Nun) as loving married couple Mary and Sam Hardacre, alongside Julie Graham (Time, Ridley, Penance), as Mary’s wily mother, Ma, and their three kids, Joe, Liza, and Harry, played by Adam Little (Ackley Bridge, Coronation Street), newcomer Shannon Lavelle and Zak Ford-Williams (Better). The series is produced by Playground, in association with Screen Ireland, Red Berry Productions, Newgrange Pictures and Banijay Rights for Channel 5.
Created by Deborah Davis (The Favourite), Marie Antoinette follows the extraordinary story of the incredibly modern and avant-garde young queen, played by Emilia Schüle (Ku’damm 56/ 63), with Louis Cunningham (Bridgerton) as the King of France, Louis XVI. The drama is a CANAL+ Creation Originale, produced by CAPA Drama, Banijay Studios France and Beside Productions.
The Sixth Commandment tells the story of how the meeting of an inspirational teacher, Peter Farquhar (Timothy Spall), and a charismatic young student, Ben Field (Éanna Hardwicke), who bonded over their love of books and involvement with the Church of England, set the stage for one of the most complex and confounding criminal cases in recent memory. The series, written by Sarah Phelps (A Very British Scandal, The Pale Horse) and directed by Saul Dibb (The Salisbury Poisonings), was awarded the BAFTA for Best Limited Drama Series and Best Leading Actor for Timothy Spall and is produced by Wild Mercury Productions – a Banijay UK company – and True Vision for BBC One.
My Fat Mad Diary takes a warm, hilarious and honest look at teenage life from the perspective of an overweight sixteen-year-old girl. Produced by Tiger Aspect, a Banijay UK company, for E4 and adapted from Rae Earl’s real-life diary and book of the same name, the series was written by Tom Bidwell (Watership Down). Starring Sharon Rooney (Brief Encounters, The Tunnel), Jodie Comer (Killing Eve, Doctor Foster), Claire Rushbrook (Whitechapel) and Ian Hart (The Last Kingdom).
Kudos, Wild Mercury Productions, Tiger Aspect and Banijay Studios France are Banijay Entertainment companies.