ITV Studios announces deal for record-breaking series six of Line of Duty in China

ITV Studios announces deal for record-breaking series six of Line of Duty in China

Pumpkin Film among raft of global deals secured for hit show

10 May 2021 – ITV Studios has struck a deal with video app Pumpkin Film in China for the record-breaking hit Series Six of Line of Duty, with the show - the finale of which on BBC One has consolidated at a massive 16 million after seven days in the UK - also set to launch on Britbox in North America next week.

In addition, the series written and created by Jed Mercurio and produced by the award-winning World Productions has also been picked up in a slew of deals worldwide with both linear and streaming platforms. Buyers include TVNZ in New Zealand, KT Corp in South Korea, Movistar in Spain, Scandinavean pubcasters Denmark’s DR, NRK in Norway, SVT in Sweden and Finland’s YLE, as well as VRT in Belgium, NPO in the Netherlands and LTV in Latvia. 

It follows on from last month’s announcement that Britbox, the streaming service from BBC Studios and ITV, is the exclusive U.S. home for Season Six, with the deal including premiere rights in Canada. Britbox Australia also picked up the rights to the series, the show having launched there in April.

Julie Meldal-Johnsen, EVP Global Content, ITV Studios said: “Line of Duty is a phenomenon and we’re delighted to be able to take the show to an even wider audience as a result of these sales. It’s great that fans everywhere from Finland to China will be able to watch this thrilling season of the show. I’m sure there will be more countries on the horizon too, which can only be a good thing for audiences across the globe.”

The first episode of this series was watched by 9.6m overnight viewers on BBC One in the UK, with a consolidated audience of 13.8m. The live audience figures surpassed the show's previous record of 9.1m for the finale of series five in 2019. And last Sunday night’s finale saw a consolidated 16m after 12.8m viewers had tuned in live. 

The award-winning crime drama follows a police anti-corruption unit and series leads Vicky McClure, Martin Compston and Adrian Dunbar all return to reprise their iconic roles. It also features Kelly McDonald (Trainspotting, Boardwalk Empire, Giri/Haji) guest starring in a new leading role as Detective Chief Inspector Joanne Davidson - a senior investigating officer on an unsolved murder, whose unconventional conduct raises suspicions at AC-12. Also joining for the first time this season were Shalom Brune-Franklin (Our Girl, Cursed), Perry Fitzpatrick (This Is England, I Am Nicola), Andi Osho (Kiri, Curfew) and Prasanna Puwanarajah (Doctor Foster, Patrick Melrose). 

Line Of Duty is written and created by Jed Mercurio, and made for BBC One by World Productions. The new series was directed by Daniel Nettheim (Broadchurch, Doctor Who), Gareth Bryn (Hinterland, Last Tango In Halifax), and Jennie Darnell (Bodyguard, Hetty Feather), and the producer is Ken Horn (The Moorside, Line of Duty series five). Executive producers are Jed Mercurio, Simon Heath for World Productions, and Tommy Bulfin for BBC One.

Line of Duty is the winner of 12 prestigious awards including Best Drama Series from the  Royal Television Society and Broadcasting Press Guild Award, and has been nominated for a further 32. It has been named as one of the 80 best BBC shows of all time.*

Next week, on May 19th, Simon Heath, World Production’s CEO and Creative Director will be joining the ITV Studios Drama Festival line up to showcase some of the company’s new, hotly-anticipated titles. There will be a sneak peek and details of two exciting new dramas, Showtrial - a timely look at how wealth, politics and prejudice conspire to distort the quest for justice, from writer Ben Richards, and Karen Pirie, a cold case drama based on Val McDermid's iconic detective during two virtual sessions. 

*Source: The Daily Telegraph https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/0/best-tv-shows-100-greatest-british-drama-comedy-documentaries/

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