Fast Friends
Max, launching in 2025
An intriguing experiment in the format business, tapping into the IP of the titanic comedy Friends without actually having to remake it. (Because, let’s be honest, that’s not likely to happen in our lifetimes. Or at least until 2026. Whichever comes first.) The format is an expansion of the much-loved episode in which the characters split into teams and quizzed each other. In Fast Friends, contestants relive iconic moments from the series on the show’s sets, and compete in trivia and puzzle games.
Watson
Paramount+
One of several Sherlock Holmes-themed projects, this is a “medical drama with detective elements” created by Craig Sweeny which essentially flicks Sherlock out of the frame and explores life after Holmes for Dr John Watson (Morris Chestnut). Think of it as NCIS: Baker Street. Joke aside, the series does tap into the Holmes bibliography: it spins a couple of twists that suggest that Holmes’ great nemesis, Moriarty, may have now turned his focus on Watson.
“Meghan who?” Stephen Amell as Ted Black in Suits L.A.Credit: David Astorga/NBC
Outrageous
BritBox, via BBC Studios
Think of this as Keeping up with the Kardashians meets Downton Abbey. A scripted drama, based on Mary Lovell’s biography The Mitford Girls, about the early 20th century’s most glamorous London pack: the six Mitford sisters, the daughters of the second Baron Redesdale and his wife, Sydney Bowles, who became tabloid princesses, their scandalous exploits turned into shocking headlines. The series is created by Sarah Williams, and stars Bessie Carter, Joanna Vanderham, Joshua Sasse and James Purefoy.
Saint-Pierre
CBC Canada, not sold in Australia yet
A police procedural series set on Saint-Pierre et Miquelon, a cluster of tiny French-controlled islands off the southern coast of Newfoundland, Saint-Pierre gives off big Death in Paradise vibes: a police series about a big city cop assigned to a microscopic island beat. The series stars Allan Hawco as Donny “Fitz” Fitzpatrick, who lands in Saint-Pierre and is paired up with local police officer Geneviève “Arch” Archambault (Joséphine Jobert).
Lockerbie: A Search for Truth
Binge, via NBC Universal
A richly textured and complex drama exploring the deliberate downing of Pan Am Flight 103 over the Scottish town of Lockerbie in 1988, which killed 243 passengers, 16 crew and 11 residents of the town. The series is based on the 2021 book The Lockerbie Bombing: A Father’s Search for Justice by Jim Swire. Colin Firth plays Swire, who battles to uncover the truth after the death of his daughter Flora.
Colin Firth as Jim Swire in Lockerbie: A Search for Truth.Credit: Graeme Hunter/SKY/Carnival
Sherlock & Daughter
SBS, via Starlings Television
Yet another Sherlock series, this one about an older Sherlock Holmes (David Thewlis) teaming up with a young American woman Amelia Rojas (Blu Hunt) and, as their investigation deepens, realising she may be his long-lost daughter. This series has a great sting in the casting tail: Dougray Scott as Holmes’ long-standing nemesis, Professor Moriarty. The series was created by Brendan Foley and filmed in Ireland.
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Generation Z
All3Media, not sold in Australia yet
A brilliant twist on the generation gap: a zombie horror comedy about the fictional town of Dambury, in which a chemical leak turns the old-aged residents into zombies, who begin attacking and eating the town’s teenaged population. The best bit? The series stars three of Britain’s legendary older actors: Sue Johnston (The Royle Family, Jam & Jerusalem), Anita Dobson (EastEnders, Doctor Who) and Robert Lindsay (All Creatures Great and Small). Written and directed by Ben Wheatley (Meg 2: The Trench).
Harry Potter: Wizards of Baking
Max, launching in 2025
Having dabbled in unscripted content in the Harry Potter franchise with Harry Potter: Hogwarts Tournament of Houses, Warner Bros has created a wild hybrid, a baking series hosted by the film’s Weasley brothers, James and Oliver Phelps, along with chefs Carla Hall and Jozef Youssef. Intriguingly, both the “tape” and format are on the market, so the series could land here either in its existing UK form, or as a local adaptation, depending on the fine print of the final deal.
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