Latest in BBC Studios

EXCLUSIVE: ABC is looking at the lighter side of the natural history world. The network has ordered When Nature Calls (w/t), a non-scripted comedy series that looks at the funny things that animals get up to in the wild. It will feature the surprising things that come out of the mouths of majestic beasts, teeny-tiny…

Julian Hector, the head of BBC Studios’ iconic Natural History Unit, is leaving after nearly 30 years of service to the production division behind global hits including Planet Earth, Blue Planet, and Seven Worlds, One Planet. Hector first joined the Natural History Unit in 1993 and succeeded Wendy Darke as its head in…

Apple TV+ has renewed BBC Studios-produced relationship comedy Trying for a third season, as the streamer prepares to premiere Season 2 on May 21. Starring Rafe Spall and Esther Smith, the show centers on a couple who are unable to conceive a child. Season 2 follows their journey as they continue to navigate the…

Top Gear presenters Freddie Flintoff, Chris Harris, and Paddy McGuinness are planning a big American road trip after being forced to film Season 30 of the motoring show entirely in the UK amid the ongoing coronavirus crisis. Ambitious overseas trips have become Top Gear’s signature over the years, but the pandemic has…

EXCLUSIVE: Top Gear has had to move out of its home at the Dunsfold race track for the first time since 2002 in order to film Season 30 studio elements. Britain is in the middle of a long lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic, meaning studio audiences are out of the question. The tight restrictions also ruled out To…

EXCLUSIVE: BBC Studios has hired Amanda Wilson and Elliot Johnson, the co-founders of Banijay-owned production company Sharp Jack, who have been responsible for co-creating international hits including The Chase and Strictly Come Dancing. Wilson and Johnson will join managing director Suzy Lamb's entertainment and…

BBC Studios’ Americas unit has hired Paramount Pictures Worldwide executive Dina Vangelisti to the newly created role of EVP Content Sales. Vangelisti will set up BBC Studios’ sales operations in Los Angeles, moving it from its current location in New York. She will report to Rebecca Glashow, president of Americas at…

EXCLUSIVE: BBC Studios has been ambitious and wide-ranging in its search for a new chief executive, but after nearly six months of recruiting, sources say that BBC director general Tim Davie is no closer to landing the big name he desires. Deadline has spoken to several well-placed sources about why the executive…

EXCLUSIVE: The coronavirus pandemic has wiped £318 million ($433 million) off the combined value of the BBC’s commercial operations, including BBC Studios, which makes global shows including Doctor Who, Good Omens and Top Gear. The British pubcaster has revalued its three non-license fee-funded units (BBC Studios, BBC…

BBC Studios has pulled the curtain back on its latest global streamer, BBC Select, which will go live across the U.S. and Canada early next year and is being characterized as a TV service for “independent thinkers.” BBC Select will launch on Amazon Prime Video and the Apple TV app and will specialize in factual…

TIFF Drama Gets Canada Deal EXCLUSIVE: Following its world premiere at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, levelFILM has acquired Canadian rights to crime noir Akilla’s Escape by director Charles Officer, who co-wrote the script with Wendy 'Motion' Braithwaite. Produced by Jake Yanowski & Officer of…

BBC Studios has introduced an “inclusion rider” for all new productions, which will mean that all new productions have to meet a 20% diversity target. On all new BBC and third-party shows, the Doctor Who and Top Gear producer will ensure that a fifth of on-screen talent and production teams come from a BAME – Black…