The Bletchley Circle Sequel Casts; RTS Programme Awards’ Winners; Awesome Options ‘Last Wave’ – Global Briefs
The Good Doctor’s Crystal Balint (above) and The X-Files’ Ben Cotton have joined the cast of The Ble..
The Good Doctor’s Crystal Balint (above) and The X-Files’ Ben Cotton have joined the cast of The Bletchley Circle: San Francisco as it moves into production. Balint, who also appeared in Prison Break, Zapped’s Chanelle Peloso and You, Me, Her’s Jennifer Spence join the team of code-breakers in BritBox’s first original series, alongside returning stars Julie Graham and Rachael Stirling. Meanwhile, Cotton, who also starred in The Arrangement, plays roguish homicide detective Bill Bryce. The series is produced by Line of Duty producer World Productions for BritBox and ITV in the UK and the series will air later this year. “It’s a thrilling new adventure for our much-beloved characters Jean and Millie, as they journey from a world still emerging from the rubble of war, to discover new horizons in America’s most iconic city,” said showrunner Michael MacLennan. “We tell a story of reinvention — not just for two British women, but the women they meet and inspire. In working together to solve various complex mysteries in San Francisco, they find justice for those who have been forgotten and ignored — while also carving out new futures for themselves.”
The BBC dominated at the Royal Television Society’s Programme Awards with Planet Earth II and mockumentary comedy This Country (left) picking up awards. The British public broadcaster won 17 awards at the event, which was held last night at the Grosvenor Hotel in London, including Channel of the Year. This Country, which is set in a small English village and was created by Daisy May and Charlie Cooper won three awards, while BBC Studios and Studio Lambert’s hard-hitting drama Three Girls picked up two gongs. Planet Earth II was called best Science and Natural History show. Channel 4 and Netflix co-production The End of the F***ing World was named Best Drama, while ITV won for shows including reality series Love Island and drama Little Boy Blue. The Crown was handed the Special Recognition award and Black Mirror picked up the Judge’s Award.
Awesome Media & Entertainment, the production company set up by author Jeff Norton, is developing novel The Last Wave into a television series. The company, which received investment from international distributor Kew Media last year, is looking to turn Gillian Best’s book, an intergenerational saga that revolves around Martha, a woman who has swum the English Channel ten times, and her complex relationships with family and friends, into a returnable series. Norton and former BBC Worldwide and ITV Studios executive Fraser Robinson will exec produce. The project does not yet have a broadcaster attached. Norton says, “Awesome is an author-founded company and we want to be the home for the world’s most creative storytellers. Gillian Best’s novel is heart-breaking yet ultimately heart-warming tale that is at once a feminist story, a novel about a marriage and a narrative about one woman’s self-empowerment and liberation from domestic life.”
