Scripted

DCD Rights has acquired a line-up of top drama series increasing its drama portfolio to more than 600 hours. The leading UK-based distributor has already sold the brand-new season of Frankie Drake Mysteries to S4 in Portugal and to LUK International in Spain. LUK International in Barcelona has also re-licensed seasons 1-3 of the drama series, produced by Shaftesbury Production in association with CBC and UKTV, for Spain.

Four series totalling 41 hours of the critically-acclaimed Frankie Drake Mysteries set in 1920s Toronto, follow the city’s only female private detectives as they take on the cases the police don’t want to touch. In a time of change and hopefulness, their gender is their biggest advantage as they defy expectations and rebel against convention. They are new detectives for a new world – but is the world ready for them? Lauren Lee Smith (Hudson & Rex, The Shape of Water, Ascension) stars as the eponymous Frankie Drake, alongside Chantel Riley (Wynonna Earp, Pearson, Suits), Rebecca Liddiard (Alias Grace, Slasher, Saving Hope) and Sharron Matthews (Hudson & Rex, Murdoch Mysteries, Mean Girls).

Other major dramas now represented by DCD Rights include two series of explosive thriller Thorne starring David Morrissey (Britannia, The Missing, The Walking Dead), Eddie Marsan (Ray Donovan, The World’s End), Aidan Gillen (Game of Thrones, Peaky Blinders) and Jack Shepherd (The Golden Compass, The Politician’s Husband). Thorne is a Stagereel/Cité-Amérique co-production in association with Sky, The Movie Network, Movie Central, 87 Films, Artists Studio & Auburn Entertainment.

Also available is Run starring Olivia Colman (The Crown, The Favourite) and Lennie James (Save Me, Line of Duty). Run, an ACME Films Production for Channel 4, paints a compelling picture of modern-day life, weaving together the stories of four seemingly unconnected people facing life-changing decisions in a world where every choice is a luxury.

Three series of The Indian Doctor, from Rondo Media & Avatar Productions, have also been acquired by DCD Rights. Set in the 1960s, a South Wales coal mining community is changed forever following the death of the local doctor, whose replacement comes as quite a shock to the villagers. High-flying Delhi graduate Dr Prem Sharma (Sanjeev Bhaskar – Yesterday, Unforgotten) and his wife, Kamini (Ayesha Dharker - Holby City, Indian Summers) eschew a glamorous lifestyle in London for the sleepy Welsh village of Trefelin, where, they quickly become embroiled in the lives of the villagers.

Nicky Davies Williams, CEO of DCD Rights, comments, “We know our clients around the world are looking for all types of scripted content for their audiences at this difficult time – from hard-hitting thrillers and contemporary relationship series to the welcome warmth of period dramas. We’re proud of DCD’s continued commitment to a wide range of drama and delighted to have acquired these superb scripted series to sit alongside our brand-new titles, such as the recent BBC ratings hit The Secrets She Keeps and My Life Is Murder starring Lucy Lawless, which is currently in production for a second season.”