ITV Studios Sends Drama Package to the Nordics

ITV Studios has inked a premium drama deal with Sweden’s SVT, Norway’s NRK, Finland’s Yle, Denmark’s DR and Iceland’s RUV.

Together, the five public broadcasters have secured a drama package that includes You & Me, about what it means to find love in the modern world. Executive produced by Russell T Davies (It’s a Sin), the series stars Harry Lawtey (Industry), Jessica Barden (The End of the F***ing World) and Sophia Brown (The Witcher: Blood Origin).

You & Me is directed by BAFTA winner Tom Vaughan (Doctor Foster) and produced by Happy Prince. Its cast also includes Julie Hesmondhalgh (Coronation Street, Broad Church).

The broadcasters also acquired World Productions’ Fifteen-Love, set in the world of Grand Slam tennis. Starring Aiden Turner and Ella Lily Hyland, it is created and written by Hania Elkington (The Innocents, The Essex Serpent) and directed by Eva Riley (Perfect Ten) and Toby MacDonald (Ragdoll).

The deal includes World Productions’ Malpractice, as well. Directed by Philip Barantini (Boiling Point, The Responder) and written by former NHS doctor Grace Ofori-Attah, the medical thriller tells the story of a damaged doctor caught up in a dangerous conspiracy.

Nolly, the new three-part drama from Davies about Crossroads actor Noele Gordon, is also part of the package. It is produced by Nicola Shindler’s Quay Street Productions and stars Helena Bonham-Carter in the lead role.

Additional shows included are World Productions’ true-crime drama The Hunt for Raoul Moat; Mammoth Screen and Masterpiece’s Tom Jones, a reimagining of Henry Fielding’s The History of Tom Jones; and The Walk-In and Four Lives, from Jeff Pope’s ITV Studios label.

“It’s the combination of the caliber of producers we are now working with—Nicola Shindler, Simon Heath, Dominic Treadwell-Collins, Patrick Spence and Jeff Pope to name but a few—and the Nordics’ appetite for U.K. drama that makes partnerships like this possible,” said Gisela Asimus Minnbergh, executive VP of distribution of EMEA at ITV Studios. “I’m delighted to see this volume of shows reaching Nordic viewers on their ever-popular PSB channels.”

Speaking on behalf of the group, Fredrik Luihn, head of acquisitions at NRK, added, “We are extremely pleased to be able to bring such a great lineup of top-quality British drama series to the Nordic audience.”