EXCLUSIVE: “For the first time in my career, I’m genuinely excited and enthusiastic about a work of mine…one that I own, and believe could work marvelously in a different medium…being adapted for the screen,” Watchmen author Alan Moore says in a rare quote about his new fantasy novel, The Great When, getting a TV adaptation. In a competitive bidding situation, Colin Callender‘s production company Playground has landed the rights to the book by the famous graphic novelist, which was published Oct. 1 by Bloomsbury. The Great When is the first in Moore’s planned five-volume Long London series of epic fantasy novels that Playground plans to adapt into a tentpole, multi-season event series.

The course of English history is often mapped out against its Kings and Queens. The Normans, bringing European modernity to a savage isle; the Plantagenets, turning the nation into an international superpower; the Victorians, industrialising our country into a formidable, globe-spanning empire. It is an easy taxonomy, but one that elides the fact that eras are shaped as much by the power behind the throne as by the royals themselves. That’s where Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light, the second and final chapter in the BBC’s adaptation of the late Hilary Mantel’s historical novels, comes in.

A lot has changed since early 2015, when Wolf Hall was last on our screens. The UK has been through six prime ministers. President Trump came and went (and may come again before this second series even airs). And Hilary Mantel – who died in 2022, two weeks after Queen Elizabeth II – wrote and published a third novel in her acclaimed historical fiction series about the rise and fall of Thomas Cromwell. At long last, we have Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light (BBC One), six more rich hours of whispered conversations in candlelit, tapestry-draped rooms.

Ireland has long been home to many major Hollywood productions, but an upcoming comedy series goes a little meta, turning the focus on the chaos that ensues when an actual big-budget Hollywood TV show comes to a small Irish town. 

“Small Town Big Story” — Sky Studios, Playground, FilmNation and Hot Cod Productions — was written and directed by Chris O’Dowd and stars Christina Hendricks and Paddy Considine.

The six-part series — due to premiere in the U.K. and Ireland next year and now heading to Mipcom — is set in the fictional town of Drumbán, a rural village of misfits on the border of Ireland. But when a major Hollywood film rolls into town, it throws the spotlight on a secret that’s been kept hidden since the eve of the millennium. 

EXCLUSIVE: Banijay Rights has sold rags-to-riches series The Hardacres to a wealth of territories as the sales giant reveals one of its biggest pre-MIPCOM deal packages with the Cannes confab kicking off next week.

The Channel 5 show from All Creatures Great and Small producer Playground chronicles the loves and fortunes of the working-class Hardacre family as they move from a grimy fish dock to a vast country estate in 1890s Yorkshire, England. The show has sold to BritBox in Australia, TVNZ in New Zealand, TV4 Sweden, MTV in Finland, DR in Denmark, RTÉ in Ireland, BBC First in Benelux and, as previously announced, Movistar Plus+ in Spain. Dazzler Media has acquired home entertainment rights for the series in the UK. It is made in association with Screen Ireland, Red Berry Productions and Newgrange Pictures.

'Wolf Hall' producer Playground is behind the series, which will star Benjamin Wainwright as the French detective.

A new iteration of one of the most beloved detectives in fiction is coming to PBS. The public broadcaster has ordered Maigret, a series based on Georges Simenon’s novels about Jules Maigret, a chief inspector for the Paris police. Production on the series, which stars Benjamin Wainwright as the title character, has begun in Budapest; it will air under PBS' Masterpiece Mystery! banner.

All Creatures Great and Small Season 5 is on the way! The PBS Masterpiece series will officially return on Sunday, January 12, 2025 at 9/8c on PBS. And with the premiere date announcement comes the first official trailer for the new season.

Nicholas Ralph, Callum Woodhouse, Samuel West, and more All Creatures Great and Small stars are featured in the Season 5 trailer revealed on September 6 (above). In it, both James and Tristan return home from war, much to the delight of their loved ones. This marks Woodhouse’s return to the series as Tristan, who was absent from Season 4.

Callum Woodhouse is back! While it was revealed earlier this year that Callum Woodhouse would be reprising his All Creatures Great and Small role as Tristan Farnon, Channel 5 has now revealed a first look at the brand new season.

Not only do the first-look images for season 5 include a cosy group shot of all the main characters, they also show a sneak peek of Tristan back in the fold as well as a shot of him reunited with brother Siegfried Farnon (Samuel West), with Tristan in full military uniform.

EXCLUSIVE: Elizabeth George’s Inspector Lynley mysteries are being given a new lease of life.

More than 15 years on from the closer of the BBC‘s mid-noughties adaptation, BritBox International, Wolf Hall producer Playground and Salt Films are developing Lynley, a new version, which is being penned by Sherlock writer Steve Thompson and directed by Ed Bazalgette.

Leo Suter (Vikings: Valhalla) and Sofia Barclay (Ted Lasso) are leading the adaptation, playing DI Thomas Lynley and DS Barbara Havers, an aristocratic police detective and maverick sergeant from a working class background. Together, the mismatched duo become a formidable team, bonded by their desire to see justice done, while the series tackles issues around personality, gender and class.

The BBC and Masterpiece PBS have revealed first-look images from Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light, the hotly-anticipated miniseries sequel to the 2015 Emmy-nominated Wolf Hall.

Mark Rylance and Damian Lewis reprise their roles as Thomas Cromwell and King Henry VIII in the adaptation of the book by Hilary Mantel, the final novel in her acclaimed Wolf Hall trilogy. If Wolf Hall was about Cromwell’s rise from humble beginnings to become Henry VII’s chief advisor and one of the most powerful men of his age, The Mirror and the Light traces his final years, when King Henry’s reign is teetering on the edge.

The Mirror & the Light is the final instalment of late author Hilary Mantel’s trilogy charting the rise and fall of Thomas Cromwell, chief advisor to King Henry VIII in sixteenth century England.

The first two novels were adapted for the BBC and PBS Masterpiece in 2015 by writer Peter Straughan and director Peter Kosminsky, via Colin Callender’s Playground Entertainment and All3Media’s Company Pictures.

“All Creatures Great and Small” has been renewed for Seasons 5 and 6, Masterpiece on PBS announced. Each season will include six episodes, in addition to Christmas specials.

Colin Callender CBE, executive producer and CEO of Playground said of the show’s renewal, “Kindness and decency are increasingly rare qualities these days, so it is a blessing to be able to return to the sanctuary of Skeldale House and James Herriot’s beloved characters who represent all that is the best in us. There are no villains in ‘All Creatures’ — just everyday folk trying to get through the day with dignity with the help of a supportive community, family and friends. It’s a lesson for modern times.”

Playground Entertainment and FilmNation’s six-part series set in Drumbán, a fictional village in rural Ireland full of misfits. Hailing from the mind of Moone Boy creator Chris O’Dowd Small Town, Big Story centres around a rural town of rattled misfits on the border of Ireland and another world, and what happens when a Hollywood production rolls into town, throwing a spotlight on a secret that’s been kept hidden since the eve of the Millennium. The series stars Paddy Considine (House of the Dragon) and Christina Hendricks (Mad Men).

O’Dowd said: “I bloody love television, and am most engrossed by stories that bring the remarkable to the everyday. I hope we’ve made a beautiful show that an audience will find funny and will keep people on the edge of their seats…and beyond.”

Small Town, Big Story is one of several original and exclusive titles coming up next on Sky in 2024.

Casting has been announced for The Hardacres, a major new 6 x 60’ period drama for Channel 5 from Playground, the award-winning production company behind the internationally acclaimed hit series All Creatures Great and Small. Currently filming on location in Dublin and Wicklow, Ireland, the new series is based on CL Skelton’s best-selling series of novels ‘The Hardacre Saga’.  The novels are the number 1 bestseller in the Amazon Family Saga Kindle charts in the UK, US and Australia and Top 15 Bestseller across all Amazon Kindle titles in the US and UK. Global partners Banijay Rights will handle international distribution for the series. The Hardacres is a sweeping rags to riches story that  follows the lives, loves and fortunes of the working class Hardacre family as they move from a grimy fish dock to a vast country estate in 1890’s Yorkshire.

Wolf Hall is coming back and bringing Harriet Walter, Timothy Spall and Harry Melling along for the ride. The trio are joining the cast alongside the likes of Mark Rylance, Damian Lewis, Jonathan Pryce, Kate Phillips and Lilit Lesser in the period drama for the BBC and Masterpiece PBS. The six-part series is currently filming across the UK. Succession star Walter will play Lady Margaret Pole, while Mr Turner star Spall is the Duke of Norfolk and Melling (The Queen’s Gambit) plays Thomas Wriothesley.

EXCLUSIVE: Masterpiece has dropped the trailer for season 4 of All Creatures Great and Small, returning Jan. 7 to PBS.

Season 4 sees Nicholas Ralph reprise his role as young country vet James Herriot, now happily married to Helen Herriot, played by Rachel Shenton (For Her Sins). Samuel West (Slow Horses) returns as James’ erratic mentor Siegfried Farnon while Anna Madeley (Patrick Melrose) continues as Mrs. Hall, matriarch of Skeldale House. Patricia Hodge (A Very English Scandal) also reprises her role as the eccentric Mrs. Pumphrey, and Derek as her Pekingese Tricki. 

Masterpiece PBS and the BBC are set to begin production on Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light, an adaptation of the final novel in Hilary Mantel’s award-winning trilogy.

Mark Rylance will reprise his role as Thomas Cromwell, while Damian Lewis will return as King Henry VIII. Also returning are Jonathan Pryce as Cardinal Wolsey, Kate Phillips as Henry VIII’s third wife Jane Seymour and Lilit Lesser as Princess Mary, the daughter of Henry and his first wife Catherine of Aragon. Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light will trace the final four years of Cromwell’s life, completing his journey from self-made man to the most feared, influential figure of his time. Further returning and new cast members will be announced at a later date.

Eight-time Grammy winner Gloria Estefan is writing the music and lyrics for an original stage musical called Five Notes about Paraguay’s Recycled Orchestra of Cateura, the singer announced today.

In an Instagram post, Estefan said she’s collaborating with her daughter Emily Estefan for the music, with the book written by playwright Karen Zacarías. Dear Evan Hansen director Michael Grief will direct Five Notes, according to Estefan.

Christina Hendricks and “House of the Dragon’s” Paddy Considine have been tapped to lead “Small Town, Big Story,” a new Sky Studios drama from Chris O’Dowd.

O’Dowd (“State of the Union”) created and will direct the six-part dramatic comedy, which tells the story of the effect on a small Irish village when a Hollywood production begins shooting on its doorstep and rattled residents struggle to keep a long-buried secret under wraps.

Paramount-owned Channel 5 in the UK has commissioned rags-to-riches family drama The Hardacres, based on author CL Skelton’s series of novels The Hardacre Saga.

The six-part series is being produced by New York- and London-based prodco Playground (All Creatures Great & Small), in association with Screen Ireland, Red Berry Productions and Newgrange Pictures. Banijay Rights is handling international distribution.

New York- and London-based production company Playground Entertainment has promoted Scott Huff and David Stern to joint MDs, giving them oversight of day-to-day operations as founder and executive chairman Colin Callender continues to focus to corporate strategy, coproductions and talent relationships. Huff and Stern will be charged with accelerating the growth of the transatlantic company, which has produced projects including BBC Two drama Wolf Hall, BBC/Starz crime series The Missing and Amazon’s King Lear adaptation starring Anthony Hopkins.

EXCLUSIVE: Channel 5 has said the success of drama series including All Creatures Great and Small has boosted its ratings and propelled the Paramount-owned UK broadcaster to record profits.

Channel 5 is looking to double down on its scripted purple patch with another major adaptation from Playground Entertainment, producer of All Creatures. The company is in talks to turn international bestseller Hardacre into a sweeping rags-to-riches series set in Yorkshire, Deadline can reveal.

Callender originally mounted “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” as a two-night, five-hour-plus stage spectacular in 2018, but when he returned the show to Broadway’s Lyric Theatre in December 2021, the version for post pandemic had been pared down to a still spectacular three and a half hours. That “single play” version has since opened in Melbourne, Toronto and Tokyo, while the original two-parter continued on in Hamburg, Germany, and London’s West End. An Emmy winner for 1982’s “The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby,” Callender in 2022 launched new seasons of TV shows he produced: “Dangerous Liaisons” (Starz), starring Lesley Manville and Carice van Houten; Peter Kosminsky’s “The Undeclared War” (Peacock/Channel 4), with Simon Pegg and Mark Rylance; and James Herriot’s “All Creatures Great and Small” (Masterpiece on PBS/Channel 5).  

All Creatures Great and Small producer Playground has optioned Alex Marwood’s The Wicked Girls and Girls director Richard Shepard will write, direct and exec produce. The psychological thriller will be developed as a limited TV series, with no network attached as yet. Published a decade ago, The Wicked Girls tells of struggling journalist Kirsty Lindsay who is reporting on a series of attacks on young female tourists in a seaside vacation town. When her investigation leads her to interview carnival cleaner Amber Gordon, both of their lives are turned upside down. Colin Callender, Scott Huff and David Stern will oversee development and executive produce for Playground. They said: “Alex Marwood wrote a novel filled with complex female characters and page turning thrills. We were hooked from page one by the story of Kirsty and Amber and how their past secrets unravel to form a fascinating relationship that upends both their lives.”

It could never work between them, Alice Englert insisted on a recent afternoon, lounging in a corner banquette at Ladurée, a French spot in Lower Manhattan. In a relationship this toxic, she said, they would have no choice but to ruin each other, slowly or all at once.

EXCLUSIVE: Crypto page-turner The Cryptopians, written by Laura Shin, is in the works for the small screen.

Playground Entertainment, the company behind series such as Starz’s Dangerous Liaisons and Peacock/Channel 4’s Undeclared War, has optioned the rights to the non-fiction book with plans to turn it into a television drama series.

At the time of her untimely death, British author Hilary Mantel was consulting on the TV adaptation of her most recent novel, “The Mirror and the Light” — the conclusion to her critically acclaimed Tudor trilogy that began with “Wolf Hall.”

The two-time Booker Prize-winning author’s sudden death at 70 was announced on Friday by her publishers, sending shockwaves among her fans and the literary and TV industries — but especially her inner circle of collaborators who were in constant touch with Mantel.

RIPON, England — Samuel West was limping. “A cow stood on my foot,” he said. “Again!” Errant hooves are among the occupational hazards on the set of “All Creatures Great and Small,” the pastoral series that unfolds in 1930s Yorkshire. But on an intermittently sunny day here in late June, they presented a particular problem for West, who plays the veterinary surgeon Siegfried Farnon and was preparing to shoot a cricket sequence.

“All Creatures Great and Small,” the wholesome reboot of the popular British veterinarian drama, is returning for Seasons 3 and 4.

U.K. broadcaster Channel 5 and PBS Masterpiece in the U.S. have officially signed on for two more seasons of the Playground-produced drama. Each season will get a 6-episode order, along with a Christmas special. PBS Masterpiece, which will debut Season 2 on Sunday (Jan. 9), is co-producing along with distributor All3Media International selling the series globally.

Lena Waithe’s Hillman Grad Productions — the company the actor/writer/producer founded with Rishi Rajani — now has an exclusive, multi-year deal with Warner Bros. Television Group. At WBTVG, Waithe and Rajani will develop television projects for, according to the announcement, “all platforms, including WarnerMedia’s HBO Max, external streaming services, cable and the five broadcast networks.”