‘All Creatures Great and Small’ Renewed for Seasons 3 and 4 at PBS Masterpiece, Channel 5 →

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“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.

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‘Hoop Dreams’ Scripted Drama Set as Lena Waithe’s First Project in New Warner Bros. TV Deal →

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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.”

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'Dangerous Liaisons’: Lesley Manville, Carice Van Houten, Paloma Faith, Michael McElhatton, Kosar Ali, 9 More Cast In Starz Prequel Series →

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Oscar nominee Lesley Manville (Phantom Thread), Emmy nominee Carice van Houten (Game of Thrones), Paloma Faith (Youth) and Michael McElhatton (Game of Thrones) and BAFTA nominee Kosar Ali (Rocks) are among 14 cast in Starz’s original series Dangerous Liaisons, a reimagining of Pierre Choderlos de Laclos’ classic 18th century novel. Also joining leads Alice Englert and Nicholas Denton in the prequel series are Nathanael Saleh (Mary Poppins Returns), Hakeem Kae-Kazim (Godzilla vs. Kong), Hilton Pelser (Moffie), Mia Threapleton (A Little Chaos), Colette Dalal Tchantcho (The Witcher), Lucy Cohu (The Queen’s Sister), Fisayo Akinade (The Personal History of David Copperfield), Maria Friedman (Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat) and Clare Higgins (Ready Player One). The series hails from Lionsgate TV, Colin Callender’s Playground Entertainment and Tony Krantz’ Flame Ventures.

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‘Dangerous Liaisons’: Alice Englert & Nicholas Denton To Star As Merteuil & Valmont In Starz Prequel Series →

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Alice Englert (Ratched) and Nicholas Denton (Glitch) have been cast as the notorious lovers Merteuil and Valmont in Starz’s original series Dangerous Liaisons, a reimagining of Pierre Choderlos de Laclos’ classic 18th century novel, from Lionsgate TV, Colin Callender’s Playground Entertainment and Tony Krantz’ Flame Ventures.

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‘All Creatures Great and Small’ Heals Cows and Soothes Souls →

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A young veterinary surgeon begins to practice in the remote Yorkshire Dales in 1937, treating abscesses in horses’ hooves and milk fever in cows and prescribing diets for overfed lap dogs.

It hardly sounds like the stuff of bestsellerdom. But James Herriot’s first book, “All Creatures Great and Small” (first published in Britain in 1970 under the title “If Only They Could Talk”), and the seven books that followed became enormous hits worldwide, selling over 60 million copies by the time the author — whose real name was James Alfred Wight — died in 1995.

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Starz Developing Eleanor Of Aquitaine Series With Susie Conklin & Playground Entertainment →

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Starz is developing a slate of series inspired by “extraordinary women of history” and has set a drama about Eleanor of Aquitaine from A Discovery Of Witches writer Susie Conklin and Playground Entertainment as the first in the strand.

The network has optioned the rights to historian Alison Weir’s biography Eleanor of Aquitaine: A Life and its companion novel Captive Queen for the first series.

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Playground Options Documentary ‘The Dog’ For TV Series Development →

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EXCLUSIVE: Colin Callender’s Playground (Wolf Hall, Howards End) has acquired the television rights to award-winning documentary The Dog to develop as a drama series.

Directed by Allison Berg and Frank Keraudren, The Dog tells the extraordinary back-story of the late John Wojtowicz, the bank robber whose antics inspired Al Pacino’s character in Sidney Lumet’s 1975 classic Dog Day Afternoon.

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First look at cast of relaunched All Creatures Great and Small as newcomer Nicholas Ralph is unveiled as Yorkshire vet James Herriot for 21st Century version of TV classic →

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It's the heartwarming TV series about the adventures of a Yorkshire vet which charmed families in the Seventies and Eighties.

Now All Creatures Great and Small is returning to our screens after a 30-year absence – with an Oscar-winner among the cast.

The show, based on the books of James Herriot, originally ran on the BBC from 1978 to 1990 with Christopher Timothy as the Dales vet and Robert Hardy as his boss.

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Lionsgate & ‘Little Women’ Producer Playground Plot Fantasy World With Tamora Pierce’s ‘Tortall Universe’ Series →

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EXCLUSIVE: Lionsgate and Little Women and King Lear producer Playground Entertainment have teamed on a major fantasy project – a television adaptation of Tamora Pierce’s expansive Tortall Universe series.

The Orange Is the New Black studio and Colin Callender’s production company, which was also behind Jodie Comer’s The White Princess, have optioned the rights to the 22 book series from Donald Laventhall of Folio on behalf of Pierce.

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Newcomer Nicholas Ralph Cast as Lead in ‘All Creatures Great and Small’ Remake →

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Nicolas Ralph will make his television debut playing the lead in the remake of the popular British series “All Creatures Great and Small.” Ralph will play James Herriot, a handsome and compassionate veterinarian who brings his practice to the country. Christopher Timothy portrayed Herriot in the original series, which ran for seven seasons and 90 episodes from 1977 to 1990 on BBC1 and PBS.

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Playground Developing Adaptation of ‘The Last of the Mohicans’ Novels for the BBC →

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“Wolf Hall” producer Playground is developing a series for the BBC based on James Fenimore Cooper’s historical series of novels known collectively as the “Leatherstocking Tales,” which includes “The Last of the Mohicans.”

Playground, run by former HBO exec Colin Callender, is working on a pilot script for the project, which is being set up as a returning series. “The Last of the Mohicans” is the second and most famous of Fenimore Cooper’s five-book series and has been adapted for the big screen several times, including the 1992 film by Michael Mann starring Daniel Day-Lewis.

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‘Dangerous Liaisons’ Series Lands At Starz; Harriet Warner To Write, Colin Callender’s Playground Entertainment & Tony Krantz’s Flame Ventures To Produce →

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EXCLUSIVE: Starz has ordered a reboot of Pierre Choderlos de Laclos’ classic 18th Century novel Les Liaisons Dangereuses (Dangerous Liaisons). The premium network has handed the series, from Colin Callender’s Playground Entertainment and Tony Krantz’ Flame Ventures, an eight-part order.

The tale of seduction, betrayal and revenge is being written and showrun by Harriet Warner, the showrunner of TNT’s forthcoming drama Tell Me Your Secrets, who has also worked on The Alienist and long-running BBC drama Call The Midwife.

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