Peacock Goes Straight to Series with Dead Day

Peacock has given a straight-to-series order for the supernatural drama Dead Day, based on the AfterShock comic book series created by Ryan Parrott.

Dead Day follows an ensemble of characters as they navigate the annual “dead day,” when for one night, the dead come back to complete unfinished business—be that to celebrate a night back on earth or to torment the living.

Julie Plec (The Vampire Diaries, The Originals, Legacies) and Kevin Williamson (The Vampire Diaries, Dawson’s Creek, The Following) will serve as co-showrunners, writers and executive producers.

Fellow executive producers are Ben Fast, Emily Cummins and Lee Kramer, Jon Kramer and David Sigurani for AfterShock Media. Universal Television, a division of Universal Studio Group, is producing.

“Dead Day combines an exciting, high-concept premise with relatable characters and real emotion,” said Lisa Katz, president of scripted content for NBCUniversal Television and Streaming. “We jumped at the opportunity to work with Julie Plec and Kevin Williamson, who not only have tremendous individual track records with their high-quality storytelling but have created magic together before.”

“Julie Plec and Kevin Williamson are each a powerhouse unto themselves, so we couldn’t have been more excited when they told us they wanted to team up again,” said Vivian Cannon, executive VP of drama development for Universal Television. “Dead Day will be everything Julie and Kevin’s audiences love about their work—emotional, unexpected and totally bingeable!”

Plec and Williamson added, “We have been looking for a project to do together, and Dead Day has all the ingredients we love as storytellers. Love, death, thrills and tears—and we know Susan Rovner and her team at Peacock are the perfect fit for this project.”

AfterShock Media’s Lee and Jon Kramer said, “We realized because of Dead Day’s unique, universally appealing concept that this AfterShock comic would capture the audience’s imagination worldwide. And none of this would be possible without this recognition from our amazing partners: Julie Plec, Kevin Williamson, Universal Television, Peacock and Ryan Parrott, the creator of Dead Day.”