The multi-million-dollar deal between Discovery and the BBC to carve up multi-channel broadcaster UKTV has received regulatory approval in the UK. In April, the two companies finally came to an agreement on the future of the Flack broadcaster with Discovery taking control of three channels and BBC Studios acquiring…

Iron Man and The Jungle Book director Jon Favreau is to produce a dinosaur documentary series for Apple. Favreau has teamed up with BBC Studios' Natural History Unit on Prehistoric Planet, which will use CGI to tell the story of the last days of the dinosaurs 66M years ago. The Natural History Unit is the division…

Former Fox and Dreamworks exec Dan McDermott is to lead BBC Studios and Lionsgate's television partnership. McDermott will run the venture, which was struck by the British public broadcaster's LA division and the Orange Is The New Black producer in October 2018. The venture will identify, co-develop and co-fund…

BBC Studios has scored its first commission for British commercial broadcaster ITV – a documentary series featuring exclusive interviews with The Prince of Wales. The production division of the public broadcaster is making Inside The Duchy (w/t) to celebrate his 50th year working as The Duke of Cornwall. It comes as…

A multi-year deal reached by MotorTrend Group and BBC Studios will yield the new U.S. series Top Gear America (working title) and provide North American streaming rights to the full library of more than 200 classic Top Gear episodes. The pact was announced by Discovery and the BBC in the lead-up to Discovery’s upfront…

Cheat creator Gaby Hull has written a six-part psychological thriller for UKTV's Alibi – the British broadcaster's second original drama since it moved into scripted commissioning. Hull, who wrote the ITV and Sundance Now college thriller, is behind We Hunt Together, produced by BBC Studios. This comes a week after…

The new television adaptation of Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables will premiere in the U.S. this month on Masterpiece on PBS. The six-part miniseries stars Dominic West as fugitive Jean Valjean, with David Oyelowo as his pursuer Inspector Javert and Lily Collins as luckless single mother Fantine. Rounding out the cast are…

LA-based TV company Fandom Fiction, which was set up by Tim Byrne, the former Creative Director of Simon Cowell's Syco Entertainment, has struck a first-look deal with BBC Studios. BBC Studios Content Partnerships has also inked a first-look deal with British production company Magnum Media, the firm behind Duck Quacks…

Discovery and the BBC are swimming off into the wild together again with a landmark agreement that includes a ten-year programming partnership to power a global SVOD service, a significant development arrangement and the division of assets at UK broadcaster UKTV. This comes six years after Discovery and the BBC ended…

BBC box sets including Absolutely Fabulous, The Young Ones and Top Gear are heading to Sky after the pay-TV platform closed a licensing agreement with BBC Studios. The move will see hundreds of hours of BBC shows launch on Sky's on-demand service as well as its Now TV platform via BBC Studios' UKTV channel brands Gold…

The BBC is making its own film about Michael Jackson – days before the controversial HBO and Channel 4 co-pro Leaving Neverland is set to air. The British public broadcaster has commissioned Michael Jackson: The Rise And Fall (w/t), written and presented by Jacques Peretti. The British journalist has previously made…

EXCLUSIVE: BBC Studios is making its first major move into podcasting with a Chuck D-fronted series about legendary punk band The Clash for Spotify. The production arm of the British public broadcaster is making Stay Free: The Story of The Clash, an eight-part series for the music service. The Public Enemy frontman…