Cannes ,France – ITV Studios Global Entertainment (ITVS GE) has announced that CANAL+ has acquired dramas Fearless and Bancroft for their free-to-air channel C8. Fearless is one of the lead titles in ITVS GE’s MIPTV drama slate, written by acclaimed writer Patrick Harbinson. The series was presented to buyers for the first time at yesterday’s MIPDrama Screenings. The series is produced by the BAFTA Award-winning Mammoth Screen who are also behind the international hits Poldark and Victoria. In the UK, Fearless has been commissioned by ITV, while Bancroft has been ordered by ITV Encore.
ITVS GE has also secured an early commitment to brand new police thriller Bancroft which commenced production last month. The series is produced by ITV Studios drama label Tall Story Pictures, led by Francis Hopkinson, who was also Executive Producer of Homefront and the recent Tutankhamun.
Fearless follows Emma Blunt (Helen McCrory), a solicitor known for defending lost causes. She’s investigating the killing of a schoolgirl and trying to free the man she thinks was wrongly convicted of the girl’s murder. As she digs ever deeper into the case she begins to sense powerful forces in the police and the intelligence services, at home and abroad, want to stop her uncovering the truth.
Bancroft centres around female leads, DCI Elizabeth Bancroft (Sarah Parish) and DS Katherine Stevens (Faye Marsay). DCI Bancroft is courageous and tackles crime head on, often at risk to her own life. Consequently, she’s trusted and adored by her colleagues and promotion to Detective Chief Superintendent looks assured. DS Stevens is an ambitious, fast-tracked recruit who, when assigned to a particular cold case, unwittingly disturbs the ghosts of the past and what she unearths shakes Bancroft to her core.
Fearless leads ITVS GE’s MIPTV drama slate along with ambitious period drama Harlots, commissioned by Hulu and ITV Encore. Separately, brand new American series Somewhere Between, for ABC, will be launched by ITVS GE at LA Screenings in May.
