Acorn TV Commissions British Drama Queens of Mystery

Acorn TV and Acorn Media Enterprises have made their third original series commission this year with the British drama series Queens of Mystery.

Queens of Mystery follows a perennially single female detective and her three aunts, who are well-known crime writers and help her solve whodunit-style murders as well as set her up on blind dates. Created for TV by writer Julian Unthank (Doc Martin, New Tricks), the first season will go into production in September with three feature-length episodes, which will make their North American premiere in 2019 as an Acorn TV Original.

Acorn Media Enterprises partnered with Sly Fox Productions in association with Ferncroft Media to produce the new series, along with Acorn Media International distributing in all English-speaking territories and ZDF Enterprises distributing in the rest of the world. Queens of Mystery will be scripted by Julian Unthank and Matthew Thomas (The Rook, The Chameleon, New Tricks) with Ian Emes directing the first two episodes.

Mark Stevens, RLJ Entertainment’s chief content officer for the Acorn brands, said, “With our third sole commission this year, Acorn TV is leading the way in producing high quality British and international television for North America, U.K. and Eire and ANZ. With its fun characters, beautiful setting, and entertaining mysteries, Queens of Mystery is exactly the kind of show our subscribers will love and is an ideal addition to our rapidly growing slate of original series. Additionally, we’ve been looking for the right project to work with the talented producers from Sly Fox, and they’ve put together a fantastic series.”

Linda James, producer at Sly Fox Productions, said, “It’s a wonderful challenge to create a new detective series that feels fresh and different. With Queens of Mystery, Julian has brought wit and verve to the genre that we’re sure will delight a global audience. With the exceptional support we’ve enjoyed from Mark and everyone at both RLJE and Acorn TV, Tim, Ian and all the team are greatly looking forward to bringing DS Matilda Stone and her clever and tenacious aunts—Beth, Cat and Jane Stone—to the screen.”