BBC Orders Mallorca-Set Crime Drama for Daytime

BBC One has commissioned a ten-part crime drama set on the Spanish island of Mallorca for its daytime schedule in 2019, with partners in the U.S., Germany and France already on board the project.

The Mallorca Files follows two detectives, one British and one German, as they police the island. Dan Sefton, whose credits include The Good Karma Hospital and Trust Me, is showrunner and writer on the series. The Cosmopolitan Pictures and Clerkenwell Films co-pro will be distributed by BBC Studios. Cosmopolitan—the venture founded by Ben Donald—and BBC Studios have lined up partnerships with BritBox for the U.S. and Canada, ZDFneo in Germany and France 2. Casting is yet to be confirmed for the show, which begins production in November.

Dan McGolpin, controller of BBC programming and daytime, called it an “enjoyable and action-packed series following two very different police officers thrown together in a Mallorcan melting-pot. Viewers on BBC One Daytime and iPlayer are in for a treat.”

Sefton added, “With influences from Almodovar to Coen Brothers, The Mallorca Files brings a fresh new spin to the story of two supposedly mismatched cops forced into an uneasy partnership. Set in the picture-perfect Balearic Island of Mallorca, action-packed, quirky and full of memorable characters, wit, and spectacle, this show is the perfect antidote to the British winter (and possibly spring and summer too!) Created by a team of talented writers including Rachael New, Alex McBride, Sarah Louise Hawkins and Dan Muirden, it has fun with a classic TV genre.”

Donald noted, “Right from the beginning I’ve wanted to make a series like the cop shows I grew up with and loved, with a pair of loveable characters people are drawn back to and want to hang out with; a show that is unashamedly entertaining and quite honestly a fun antidote to the pretty bleak world out there. In its funding, this series represents the very best of what co-production can do to add value for the U.K. audience and license fee payer. I’ve always wanted to find a way to bring the Anglo-German relationship on television out of sketch comedy and into the 21st century.”

Murray Ferguson, chief executive and director of Clerkenwell Films, added, “When entering into the partnership with Cosmopolitan Pictures we were excited by the ambition and variety of ideas on their slate. It’s fantastic to be collaborating with Ben on what we hope will be the first of many productions.”