Richard Gadd, the brainchild behind Child Reindeer, Netflix‘s greatest hit of 2024 to this point, is making a brand new TV collection – nevertheless it will not be launched on the streaming large.
In a joint HBO-BBC press launch, the 2 leisure behemoths confirmed that Gadd’s subsequent mission, titled Lions, will debut on their respective cable and terrestrial TV channels, plus streaming platform BBC iPlayer, when it is prepared for launch. Gadd will pen the scripts for the six-part collection and be a part of its sizeable executive-producing crew.
So, what is going to Lions be about? Here is the TV drama’s official story temporary: “When Niall’s estranged ‘brother’ Ruben reveals up at his marriage ceremony, it results in an explosion of violence that catapults us again by means of their lives.Â
“Spanning nearly forty years from the Nineteen Eighties to the current day, this bold collection will cowl the highs and lows of the brothers’ relationship, from them assembly as youngsters to their falling out as adults – with all the nice, unhealthy, horrible, humorous, offended, and difficult moments alongside the best way. It’ll seize the wild power of a altering metropolis – a altering world, even – and attempt to resolve the troublesome query… What does it imply to be a person?”
Richard Gadd is ready to make his subsequent TV collection ‘LIONS’ for HBO.The collection follows the connection between a pair of estranged brothers over the span of 40 years. pic.twitter.com/QGbal8kzHIJune 27, 2024
In an announcement accompanying the reveal, Gadd mentioned: “Ordering a HBO boxset of The Sopranos, The Wire, or Oz and watching it from begin to end have been a number of the happiest moments of my childhood. Since then, it has at all times been a dream of mine to work with HBO and be a part of their iconic roster of reveals. I’m so grateful to Francesca Orsi, Kara Buckley, and Clint LaVigne for taking this opportunity on the present, and on Ruben and Niall, too, who – regardless of rising up in a dead-end Scottish city – could be completely pinching themselves at this! I can’t wait to get began.”
Kara Buckley, HBO’s Senior Vice-President for Drama Programming, additionally mentioned: “We’re tremendously excited to associate with the BBC and Richard Gadd, whose outstanding expertise continues to make waves throughout the globe. With this new, gripping and evocative collection, we’re proud to welcome Richard to the HBO household.”
“We’re delighted that HBO are becoming a member of us to convey Richard Gadd’s beautiful Lions scripts to the display,” the BBC’s Director of Drama Lindsay Salt added. “That is daring, good, one-of-a-kind storytelling and we will’t look forward to viewers to see it.”
A blow for Netflix, or a bullet dodged?
Delicate spoilers comply with for Child Reindeer.
On the floor, plainly Netflix has missed a trick with Gadd’s newest TV mission. Child Reindeer has been a titanic success for the world’s greatest streaming service, with the black comedy-drama miniseries accumulating 224.2 million hours streamed in its first 28 days on the platform. Throw in its near-perfect 98% crucial score on Rotten Tomatoes – it additionally holds an 80% viewers rating on the identical web site – and its dominance of the TV present city all through Might, and it is greater than earned its title as 2024’s greatest cultural phenomenon.
So, why did not Netflix attempt to proceed its present relationship with Gadd and bid to accumulate Lions? Nicely, we will not say with any certainty that it did not. There’s each likelihood that Netflix tried to usurp HBO and the BBC within the battle to safe the unique rights to beam Lions into properties worldwide. It is also attainable that, given Child Reindeer‘s unprecedented success, the 2 studios not solely moved rapidly to work with one of many trade’s greatest present names, but additionally united to gazump Netflix’s provide. This is not the primary time that HBO and the BBC have labored collectively, both; the 2 firms joined forces to convey Physician Who (earlier than Disney Plus agreed a distinct cope with the BBC forward of Ncuti Gatwa’s debut because the titular character, anyway) and His Darkish Supplies to their respective audiences. The pair, then, have earlier type for teaming as much as beat their rivals to initiatives.
It is also believable, although, that Netflix merely shied away from Lions over the unhealthy publicity it is garnered post-Child Reindeer‘s launch. Sure, certainly one of this yr’s greatest Netflix reveals was one other large win for the streamer, however its explosion in recognition got here at a value – a doubtlessly costly, lawsuit-based one at that.
For the uninitiated: Child Reindeer‘s story relies on real-life occasions, which allegedly noticed Gadd stalked by a girl for years. Understandably for authorized and privateness causes, the identification of mentioned particular person wasn’t disclosed as a part of the TV collection – certainly, Jessica Gunning, who portrays the unnamed lady, goes by a distinct title (Martha Scott) in Child Reindeer.
Sadly for the girl Martha is impressed by, and regardless of Gadd’s greatest efforts to finish the hypothesis concerning her actual title, web sleuths rapidly decided her identification. Practically one month after Child Reindeer‘s April 11 launch, controversial UK journalist Piers Morgan interviewed a girl on his discuss present Piers Morgan Uncensored who not solely claimed to be the real-life inspiration for Martha, but additionally that she was suing Netflix for $170 million for, per the BBC, breach of privateness, defamation, and negligence.
Now, I am not suggesting that Netflix opted to not bid for Lions primarily based on the Child Reindeer fallout, however I can not assist feeling that HBO and the BBC’s acquisition, not Netflix’s, of the rights to Gadd’s new present is a bit coincidental. Regardless, we’ll most likely by no means know for positive, that means the query of whether or not it is a blow for Netflix, or a bullet dodged, stays answered.
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