Colin Callender’s Playground Nabs Alan Moore’s Fantasy Book ‘The Great When’ As Part Of Genre Expansion & Shift To Multi-Season Series →

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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.

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Riveting, dynamic and bloody good fun – Wolf Hall is back after a 10-year wait →

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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.

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Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light, BBC One, review: This is the drama of the year →

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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.

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Chris O’Dowd Talks Bringing Hollywood to Ireland in Meta Comedy ‘Small Town Big Story’ and His Cameo in the Series (EXCLUSIVE) →

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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. 

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'The Hardacres' Sold To BritBox Ahead Of Channel 5 Launch →

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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.

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PBS’ ‘Masterpiece’ Books ‘Maigret’ Mystery Series →

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'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.

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‘All Creatures Great and Small’: James & Tristan Return From War in Season 5 Trailer →

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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.

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All Creatures Great and Small gives first look at Tristan's return →

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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.

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Inspector Lynley Series In The Works At BritBox International & ‘Wolf Hall’ Producer Playground

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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.

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See Who's Starring in National Tour of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child →

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The cast will be led by John Skelley as Harry Potter with Trish Lindstrom as Ginny Potter and Emmet Smith as their son Albus Potter; Matt Mueller as Ron Weasley with Ebony Blake as Hermione Granger and Naiya Vanessa McCalla as their daughter Rose Granger-Weasley; Ben Thys as Draco Malfoy with Aidan Close as his son Scorpius Malfoy; and Julia Nightingale as Delphi Diggory.

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Mark Rylance and Damian Lewis in First-Look Images From ‘Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light’ →

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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.

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Playground Entertainment’s Colin Callender casts new light on return of Wolf Hall →

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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.

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Masterpiece Hit ‘All Creatures Great and Small’ Renewed for Seasons 5 and 6 →

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“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.”

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First look: Small Town, Big Story, Sky Max →

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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.

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Casting Announced for Channel 5’s Rags to Riches Drama ‘The Hardacres’ →

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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.

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‘Harry Potter and the Cursed Child’ to debut national tour in Chicago →

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The first national tour of the 2018 Tony Award-winning Best Play “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” will begin in Chicago. The production will play the James M. Nederlander Theatre, with previews scheduled to begin on Sept. 10, 2024, ahead of an opening night set for Sept. 26. “Cursed Child” will continue for a 21-week engagement through Feb. 1, 2025.

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Harriet Walter, Timothy Spall & Harry Melling Join BBC & Masterpiece’s ‘Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light’ →

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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.

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‘All Creatures Great And Small’: Masterpiece Drops New Teaser For Season 4 →

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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. 

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‘Wolf Hall: The Mirror And the Light’: Masterpiece & BBC To Begin Production On Hilary Mantel Adaptation Starring Mark Rylance, Damian Lewis →

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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.

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