Netflix Doubles Down On UK-Made Reality Shows With Studio Lambert & Lion Television Formats

EXCLUSIVE: Netflix is making good on its promise to move at pace into reality and competition series after partnering with two British-based, All3Media-owned producers on new formats.

Deadline can reveal that the streaming giant is teaming with Undercover Boss and The Circle production outfit Studio Lambert on an ambitious reality game show, which has the working title Jet Set.

The format will fly contestants to a tropical location, where they will commune and compete in a series of challenges and dilemmas in a bid to win a big cash prize. Studio Lambert is currently casting for the show on both sides of the Atlantic.

Jet Set is the second new competition series Studio Lambert is working on for Netflix. Deadline revealed in March that the company was making a dance show, working titled All The Right Moves, which aims to uncover a superstar choreographer. The project remains live after coronavirus disrupted filming earlier this year.

We also hear that Studio Lambert is back in production on the U.S. version of The Circle, which is made in the UK. Netflix handed the catfish reality show a two-season renewal back in March.

Elsewhere, All3Media’s Lion Television is also producing a new dating format for Netflix, working titled The Date. Details on the project are sketchy, but casting has been underway for a number of months and producers are promising a “unique” experience for participants.

Lion has got form in making dating shows with a twist after creating BBC3/A&E format Sexy Beasts, in which singletons were transformed with Hollywood-grade special effects makeup.

Netflix declined to comment on the new formats, but directors of unscripted originals and acquisitions, Nat Grouille and Sean Hancock, made clear their ambitions at the Edinburgh TV Festival in August.

Grouille said he wants “giant resonant” shows with “something to say” that “feel urgent.”  He added: “It’s like we’re in the golden age that we were in 15 years ago where people could come with shows that were just great ideas and what-ifs. So, for instance, what if people had to live on an island? That’s Survivor. What if people all lived in a house and you could watch? That’s Big Brother. We’re looking at all the areas for those big what-if questions.”

Their comments came on a panel about Too Hot Too Handle, another British-made reality show for Netflix. The Talkback format generated buzz, but Netflix has so far declined to say if it will be renewed for a second season.