BBC Lines Up Doc The Ghan

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BBC has acquired the three-hour documentary The Ghan from Australia’s Flame Distribution.

Produced by Mint Pictures in Australia, the slow TV documentary takes viewers on an immersive journey on the country’s most iconic passenger train, in real time. The deal with the BBC follows the sale of the documentary to First HDTV for CIS, Beyond Home Entertainment in Australia and Amazon Prime Video for North America and India.

Eileen Pesah, the senior VP of content sales for the U.K. and EMEA at Flame Distribution, commented, “The BBC were very keen to take this special slow TV show that had unprecedented success on SBS in Australia. We are thrilled BBC Four succeeded to secure the rights for the U.K. and Ireland.”

Additionally, Flame Distribution secured a package deal with Discovery Poland that includes Off the Beaten Track with Kate Humble (Tatu Pictures), Travel Safe Not Sorry (Stornoway Enterprises), Mushers: Conquering the Yukon Quest (Red Letter Films) and Greeks of the Sea (Tadpole Studios). Discovery picked up Love Food (Clerisy Entertainment) for its MENA and Israel feed, while Ananey licensed the documentaries The Surgeon and the Soldier (Serendipity Productions), Here Right Now (Clerisy Entertainment) and Lebanese Beauty Queens (iKandy Films) for Israel.

In France, public broadcaster France Télévisions acquired Is Sugar the New Fat? (Razor Films), while France Ô will air the documentary Occupation Native (Brindle Films). Icelandic public broadcaster RUV picked up A Stitch in Time (BBC Studios) and Brandy Y Productions’ Dino Trails and The Dinosaur Echo. The Dinosaur Echo was also acquired by Axess TV in Sweden.

TVN in Poland, meanwhile, licensed the one-hour documentary It’s Not Just Me (Escalator Productions). Czech public broadcaster Ceska TV acquired the travel series New Zealand From Above (Bearcage Productions, Making Movies), while Czech Free TV Prima secured a package that includes Scrap Kings (Back2Back Productions), Killing Machines (Wildbear Entertainment), Railroad Australia (Prospero Productions), China’s Hidden Monkeys (LIC China), Nicholas & Alexandra: The Letters (Back2Back Productions) and The Kingdom: How Fungi Made Our World (Smith & Nasht Production, Real to Reel Productions). The Kingdom was also sold to Servus TV in Austria and Spafax for Lufthansa.