A historical series about the Guinness dynasty by Steven Knight and a one-shot crime drama series written by Stephen Graham and Jack Thorne and directed by Philip Barantini lead Netflix’s latest UK scripted slate.
Produced by Kudos and set in 19th-century Dublin and New York, House Of Guinness (working title) will tell the epic story of the family behind the iconic Irish stout.
The story will be based around the demise of Benjamin Guinness, the man responsible for the extraordinary success of the brewery. It will focus on the consequences of his death and the impact it had on the fate of his four adult children, as well as on a group of Dublin characters who work and interact with the growing juggernaut that is Guinness.
Knight said: “The Guinness dynasty is known the world over – wealth, poverty, power, influence, and great tragedy are all intertwined to create a rich tapestry of material to draw from.”
Netflix vice-president of content Anne Mensah suggested the show “has all the power of Peaky Blinders but the scale and the sweep of a true family saga”.
Additionally, Stephen Graham and Jack Thorne have written a four-part one-shot crime drama series Adolescence, produced by Warp Films, Matriarch Productions and Brad Pitt’s Plan B Entertainment, and directed by Boiling Point helmer Philip Barantini.
STV Studios-produced The Witness is a true-crime drama about the violent death of Rachel Nickell in 1992. When he was two-years-old, Alex Hanscombe witnessed his mother’s brutal killing on Wimbledon Common and the drama follows the murder investigation from the point of view of Alex and his father André.
Netflix UK content director Mona Qureshi said: “This was an event that shocked the whole nation. While many people remember Rachel’s tragic death, what happened next deserves to be shared with an audience. Alex and André‘s story is an extraordinary testament to the tenacious and redeeming love between a parent.”
The Choice is a political thriller from Netflix and Binocular Productions starring Suranne Jones, who is also an executive producer on the series.
Jones plays a recently elected UK prime minister fighting for office thanks to a healthcare crisis. Meanwhile Julie Delpy is the first female French president campaigning for re-election.
Grown Ups is an adaptation of Marian Keyes best-selling novel which is coming to the screen as an ensemble family drama. Heartstopper and The Power Of The Dog producer See-Saw Films is behind the series based on three couples who are loyal, noisy and bound together by a whole lot of love.
Crime noir The Undertow hails from Complete Fiction and Wiip, starring Jamie Dornan and based on the Nordisk Film Production AS television series Twin.
In the adaptation, Dornan will play the roles of identical twins with Mackenzie Davis playing Adam’s wife.
Netflix also announced Black Mirror will return for a seventh series.
A version of this story originally appeared on Screen’s sister site, Broadcast
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