Benidorm Bastards to Get Australian Treatment

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MUNICH: SevenOne International has sold the hit Belgian format Benidorm Bastards to Australia’s FOXTEL for a local production under the title Off Their Rockers to launch in 2012. 

FOXTEL will launch the eight-episode adaptation on The Comedy Channel early next year. Granada Media Australia is handling the local production. The show has been sold to more than 20 countries, including the U.S., where Betty White’s Off Their Rockers will launch on NBC. 

Brian Walsh, the executive director of television at FOXTEL, said, "FOXTEL is delighted to have secured the format rights to Off Their Rockers from our friends at Granada Media Australia and Seven One International. The Australian version will have all the spark and spontaneity of the original, with a distinctly ‘Aussie’ feel. The great thing about this format is that it is truly universal. We all love a laugh and our local ‘senior citizens’ are as playful at this art form as their European counterparts. We have high hopes for the series, which will spearhead our Australian formats on FOXTEL´s Comedy Channel in 2012."

Yan He, regional sales director at SevenOne International, commented: "Once again, the Benidorm Bastards prove their international appeal—Australia is our third major English-speaking market after the U.S. and the U.K. We are absolutely delighted and wish our partners at FOXTEL and Granada every success."