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PBS Distribution will be the North American distribution partner for West Road Pictures and All3Media International series “Ridley.” It stars Adrian Dunbar (“Line of Duty”) as Detective Inspector Alex Ridley, who has retired from the police after 20 years of dedicated service. Now working in a consultancy role, Ridley resumes his partnership with his former protégée, Di Carol Farman, when she turns to him for help on a complex murder investigation.

The series, which consists of four two-hour episodes, is currently filming across Northern England, and will premiere on ITV in the U.K. It has sold to Npo in the Netherlands, Vrt in Flemish Belgium, BritBox for exclusive Australia streaming, Pumpkin TV has China VOD rights, and Rlj Entertainment has secured DVD/Video rights for Australia and New Zealand.

“Ridley” is written and created by Paul Matthew Thompson (“Vera”) and co-created by Jonathan Fisher (“Blood”), MD of West Road Pictures,...

PBS Boards Adrian Dunbar Detective Drama ‘Ridley’ For North American Distribution

PBS Distribution has taken North American rights to upcoming ITV detective drama Ridley, which stars Line of Duty’s Adrian Dunbar, following a deal with All3Media International. Currently filming in northern England, the show follows retired police officer Ridley who resumes his partnership with former protégée Di Carol Farman (Bronagh Waugh) to solve complex murder cases. All3 has secured pre-sales for the four-part drama with Npo in the Netherlands, Vrt in Flemish-speaking Belgium and Britbox in Australia. Pumpkin TV has taken VoD rights in China. The show comes from Paul Matthew Thompson (Vera) and is co-created by former Midsomer Murders exec Jonathan Fisher, whose All3-owned indie West Road Pictures is producing in association with All3Media International.

Channel 5 Orders First True Crime Drama

British broadcaster Channel 5 has turned to long-time scripted partner Clapperboard Studios to create its...

ITV has revealed the trailer for new drama Breathless, starring Jack Davenport and Joanna Page.

The period drama opens in 1961, and follows the lives of a group of doctors and nurses working in a London hospital.

The six-part drama, which also stars Sarah Parish, Catherine Steadman and Iain Glen, is billed as being set in a world of "lies, deception and guilty secrets, driven by love, ambition and sex".

The action takes place in a Gynaecology unit, on the cusp of Britain's '60s revolution where abortion is illegal and the contraceptive pill is only just becoming available to married women.

The drama was co-created by Casualty's Paul Unwin, who collaborated with Peter Grimsdale and Simon Tyrrell to write the series.

Kate Bartlett, executive producer for ITV Studios, said: "Breathless is an exhilarating and charismatic character drama, set against a glamorous London backdrop.

"The medical stories and events are...

The cast has been announced for ITV's upcoming drama Breathless.

The series - which has started filming in London - is set in the 1960s and focusses on the lives of doctors and nurses at one of the capital's hospitals and delves into their "cauldron of lies, deception and guilty secrets, driven by love, ambition and sex".

Vanity Fair's Natasha Little will star as Elizabeth, the "elegant" wife of surgeon Otto played by Jack Davenport - who was revealed to have joined the cast as the lead character in February.

Friends of the couple, Dr Charlie Enderbury and his wife Lily will be played by Above Suspicion's Shaun Dingwall and Gavin & Stacey star Joanna Page.

Joining the cast as colleagues at the hospital are Catherine Steadman (The Tudors) as a nurse who catches Otto's eye and Oliver Chris (Green Wing) as a junior consultant engaged to Angela's sister Jean,...

Review Simon Brew 27 Feb 2013 - 22:00

The sequel of sorts to Marchlands, Lightfields, gets off to a bit of a spluttering start. Spoilers lie within...

This review contains spoilers.

You might recall, a couple of years ago, that ITV put together an effective little five-part chiller by the name of Marchlands. It did solid ratings, and we heard whispers that a Marchlands 2 was being discussed back then. Turns out, those whispers had some substance to them: while Lightfields isn't a full-on sequel, its link to Marchlands is fairly obvious, and suitably played up in the promo material.

Lightfields, as with its predecessor, is a five part spooky story, that shares one central location between three different sets of people, in three different eras. These people start off unrelated, but if all of their lives aren't utterly intertwined in some way by the end of the fourth episode, I'll eat four Pot Noodles back to back.

Lightfields. co. ITV

Building on the success of Marchlands, ITV are set to air Lightfields – a supernatural drama set in Suffolk. The story is centered around three sets of families who live in the same farm house at different points in time. Each of the families have to contend with an unwelcome visitor – a teenage ghost!

The five-part drama is written by Simon Tyrrell (The Vice) and is based on a piloted Twentieth Century Fox show titled The Oaks. The cast includes Dakota Blue Richards (The Golden Compass), Sam Hazeldine (Bridget Jones), Jill Halfpenny (Waterloo Rd), Kris Marshall (Love Actually) and Neil Jackson (Upstairs Downstairs). Episode one will air on ITV on Wednesday 27 February at 9 p.m.

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Jack Davenport is to lead ITV's new '60s medical drama Breathless.

The Smash star will play brilliant but charismatic surgeon Otto Powell in the new series.

Breathless - which has been compared to both BBC One's Call the Midwife and ITV's own The Royal - has been devised by Casualty creator Paul Unwin.

The drama follows the lives of doctors and nurses working in a London hospital, a workplace that hides "a cauldron of lies, deceptions and guilty secrets, driven by love, ambition and sex".

Opening in 1961, Breathless will be written by Unwin, co-creator Peter Grimsdale and Simon Tyrell (Lightfields).

"I'm delighted to be adding a new medical drama to our roster of returning series," said ITV's Acting Director of Drama Commissioning Steve November.

"Paul and Peter have created a compelling group of characters at a fascinating point in the history of the NHS."

ITV Studios exec Kate Bartlett...

Set in 1961 London, Breathless is a six-part drama created by Paul Unwin whose credits include British series Casualty and Combat Hospital. ITV has just commissioned the ITV Studios production that follows the lives of a group of doctors and nurses in a gynecology ward at a period when Britain was on the brink of the 60s revolution. Smash‘s Jack Davenport stars as Otto Powell, a brilliant and charismatic surgeon who believes he can make a difference to women’s lives. Otto and his elegant wife preside over an ensemble of characters with more cast announcements to come. Unwin will direct the first two episodes. His co-creator is Peter Grimsdale who will also script with Simon Tyrell. Breathless is produced by Jolyon Symonds; ITV Studios’ Kate Bartlett will executive produce with Unwin. Shooting starts in April. ITV Studios Global Entertainment is handling internationally.

Trailer Louisa Mellor Feb 12, 2013

ITV's follow-up to 2011's Marchlands, new five-part supernatural drama Lightfields, has released a first trailer...

Fans of recent BBC drama The Secret Of Crickley Hall might like to keep an eye out in the schedules for Lightfields, ITV's follow-up to 2011's Marchlands.

Due to air this spring, Lightfields tells its story using the same multi-period structure as its ghostly predecessor, with episodes unfolding the tale of a WWII tragedy, the haunting repercussions of which are felt by characters in 1976, and again in the present day.

Written by Simon Tyrell (Survivors, The Body Farm) and directed by Damon Thomas (Prisoners' Wives, Dirk Gently, Sirens), Lightfields star the likes of Skins' Dakota Blue Richards, Misfits' Karla Crome, The Bill's Danny Webb, and half of this generation's answer to the Gold Blend couple: BT ad man, Kris Marshall. 

ITV

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LONDON -- Actor Ray Winstone said in a statement Wednesday that he has formed a new television production company called Size 9 Prods. with agent Michael Wiggs and producer Joshua St. Johnston. Size 9's first venture, a two-part telefilm commissioned by ITV titled She's Gone, starring Winstone, written by Simon Tyrrell (The Vice) and directed by Adrian Shergold (The Second Coming, Births, Marriages and Deaths) is now in production in London and Istanbul.