Scripted

During its annual Showcase event, BBC Studios announced Slovakia as the first international market to license scripted format Smother, a domestic thriller that explores deeply buried secrets and their unintended consequences.

Winner of an RTS Ireland award for Best Drama and written by Kate O’Riordan (Mr. Selfridge), Smother was produced by BBC Studios and Treasure Entertainment for RTÉ. The original production ran for three series and sold to the US, Australia, and across Europe. Smother follows a widower who in the aftermath of her husband’s tragic death, discovers the complex and damaged relationships that he had with his family. The deeper she delves into the secrets of those around her, the more she realises the profound effect of his controlling, manipulative behaviour on each of them, and must face the shocking realisation that one of them might have been driven to murder.

The gripping drama format has been acquired by Slovakia’s TV Markíza and VOYO (Markíza’s digital platform) with the 12-part local version to be produced by Film Kolektiv. The series will commence filming in the first half of 2025. This is the third scripted format from BBC Studios that TV Markíza has adapted in recent years. A 12-part adaptation of Mistresses (Milenky), aired locally in 2018 and a 10-part adaptation of Doctor Foster, Zrada, aired locally to critical acclaim in 2024.

BBC Studios also announced that Doctor Foster, the world’s most adapted scripted format this decade, will be getting a Czech remake after a license agreement was struck with TV Nova and Voyo.

Originally written by Mike Bartlett and produced by Drama Republic in the UK, the 10-episode local adaptation will follow the story of a trusted doctor whose life implodes when she suspects her husband of having an affair.

Magdalena VanNiekerk, Format Sales Director, Unscripted, at BBC Studios said: “BBC Studios continues to be one of the top scripted format distributors in the world owing to the incredibly crafted stories and characters within in our catalogue, available to be retold in new ways and to new audiences around the world. Relationship and family-based dramas like Smother and Doctor Foster are appreciated by our customers as they share universal themes, such as betrayal and revenge in these cases, which resonates with audiences wherever they are in the world. These types of stories have the ability to spark conversations long after the episodes end. The Markíza and TV Nova groups are long-standing partners and we look forward to working together again to create another local hit for their audiences.”

Smother and Doctor Foster form part of BBC Studios Showcase unrivalled scripted formats slate presented today to buyers in London. During a fireside chat the creator and writer of Smother, Kate O’Riordan also discussed her latest project Blackshore (6x60’) which is now available as a format. The crime thriller co-produced by River Pictures and Treasure Entertainment sees Detective Inspector Fia Lucey return home to investigate a local disappearance and unearth disturbing secrets and deeply buried trauma. Also presented was Homebound 3.0 (8x30’) from Kevin & Co Productions, which sees 30-something singletons Melissa and Henry, who both still live at home, fake a relationship to keep their Chinese parents happy.

At the event unscripted formats customers were given an exclusive screening of radical reality dating format, The Honesty Box and heard what makes this format stand out from the crowd from creators, Sarah Tyekiff and Shaun Parry of Mettlemouse, and Channel 4’s Steve Handley and Genna Gibson.

The license agreements with TV Nova and TV Markíza were brokered by Magdalena VanNiekerk on behalf of BBC Studios.