BBC Worldwide, Australia’s Seven Network in Volume Deal

LONDON/SYDNEY, February 6:
BBC Worldwide has sold a raft of comedy, drama and factual programming to
Australian broadcaster Seven Network, including the series The
Whistleblowers, produced by
Carnival Films for ITV.

Drama series licensed to
Seven include the 6×50-minute The Whistleblowers, featuring two former lawyers who expose political
and corporate mismanagement, negligence and greed. The series stars Richard
Coyle (Coupling) and Indira
Varma (Bride and Prejudice, Rome).
Seven also picked up the 6×50-minute Mistresses, which follows a group of girlfriends whose lives
have taken very different turns. Produced by Ecosse Television, the series
stars Sarah Parish (Cutting It)
and Sharon Small (The Inspector Lynley Mysteries). Rounding out the drama acquisitions are the
4×50-minute court-themed Judge John Deed, which returns to Seven for a fifth season.

The comedy slate is led by
the 6×30-minute Gavin and Stacey,
from Baby Cow Productions, written by and co-starring Ruth Brown (Little
Britain) and James Corden (The
History Boys). The series tells
the story of an ordinary boy (Matthew Horne) and an ordinary girl (Joanna Page)
and how their new love affair proves that there’s no such thing as ordinary
after all. Meanwhile, all three seasons of The Vicar of Dibley plus specials from 1996 to 2005 have been licensed
to Seven. Classic comedy is also included in the deal, with a
re-licensing of Fawlty Towers and
Michael Palin’s Ripping Yarns
providing a youthful counterbalance to Michael Palin’s New Europe, which will also air on Seven this year.

On the factual front, the
4×1-hour India with Sanjeev Bhaskar,
featuring Sanjeev Bhaskar, the star of The Kumars at No 42, attempts to get under the skin of modern India
and to explore the legacy of the Raj. And the 8×1-hour What Not To Wear will return to Seven for a seventh season.

“From sexy contemporary
drama to brand new comedy to Sanjeev Bhaskar's very personal journey to modern
India, there is certainly something for everyone,” said Amber Knight, BBC
Worldwide's senior sales manager for Australasia. “It's a superb collection and
we are thrilled to have concluded this deal with the Seven Network.”

Added John Stephens, Seven’s
head of programming strategy and acquisitions, “The product will definitely
enhance Seven’s already strong 2008 schedule, and certainly be more than useful
in attracting larger audiences, particularly to our Saturday night lineup,
where for the past couple of years the Network has achieved good returns with a
purposeful slant towards British content.”

—By Irene Lew