Hat Trick International has picked up worldwide rights to off-beat Norwegian comedy drama Magnus, the UK indie’s first foreign language series, in another sign of the growing global appeal of foreign-language shows. Made by Viafilm, producers of international dramas Norsemen and Lilyhammer, the title is currently…

UKTV, which is a joint venture between Discovery and BBC Studios, has handed British comedians Josh Widdicombe and James Acaster a new comedy panel show. This comes as its carriage feud with UK cable operator Virgin Media rumbles on. The multichannel broadcaster has commissioned eight-part entertainment format Hypothet…

EXCLUSIVE: Stalin's Russia is set to be portrayed on the small screen after Episodes and Flack producer Hat Trick Productions optioned Simon Sebag Montefiore's novel One Night in Winter. The book tells the story of marriage, childhood, danger, and betrayal in Stalin’s Moscow during the bleak days after World War…

ABC is piloting a remake of quirky British game show The Time It Takes with former The Late Late Show host Craig Ferguson. The U.S. network has ordered the pilot weeks after it was picked up by the BBC for an eight-episode run. It is being produced by Episodes and Flack producer Hat Trick Productions, best known in…

The British love a slice of quirky and eccentric Saturday night television and it seems the BBC's latest primetime gameshow will deliver just that. The British public broadcaster has ordered The Time It Takes from Hat Trick Productions, the company behind long-running panel format Have I Got News For You and Matt…

Anna Paquin, star of Pop TV and UKTV's forthcoming dark PR comedy drama Flack, says now is the time for female roles that are "flawed, complicated and interesting" – echoing recent male antiheroes such as Walter White, Don Draper and Tony Soprano. The True Blood star plays Robyn, a quick-witted London-based U.S…

Hat Trick Productions, the UK production company behind Showtime's Matt LeBlanc-fronted comedy Episodes and forthcoming Anna Paquin-fronted drama Flack, is eyeing a sale after appointing advisers Stella EOC. Founder Jimmy Mulville, who set up the company in 1986 with Denise O’Donoghue and Rory McGrath, has appointed…