Provocative, quick-witted and fiercely independent, Aphra Behn was bisexual libertine and undercover spy who defied the gender rules of her era by becoming England’s first ever female playwright.
APHRA is the true story of a girl who – with courage, wit and exceptional talent – defiantly forged her way through a sexist society and achieved things no woman had ever done before. It’s the tale of an extraordinary female underdog. A candle-lit thriller with real-life Machiavellian power struggles; a sexy fast-paced period drama told with the same outrageous and iconoclastic mischief with which Aphra lived her life.
The series will lead us through the twisting alleys, debauched theatres, secret chapels and four-poster bedrooms of Restoration London. Her career, her love-life and the fate of the nation will all become thrillingly intertwined, as she’s forced to risk it all to stop her country from tearing itself apart. In a cloak-and-dagger city of duplicity, performances and lies – who can you trust?
in development WITH:
ORiGIN PICTURES
JOan of arc
A peasant girl sets off on a quest to crown the King and save the country, succeeding with the help of three supernatural characters and her own incredible self-belief. It sounds more like the start of a best-selling YA novel than something torn out of a history book. Yet that's the incredible paradox at the heart of Joan's story - it's a fabulously twisted fairy tale... and every word of it is true.
We're going to break Joan free from the boxes she’s been crammed into in the past – saintly, delusional, religious zealot – and bring to life the real girl; the whip-smart, charismatic and gloriously defiant teenager who persuaded thousands of cynical and aggressively patriarchal men to follow her into battle.
This Joan doesn’t just piously take orders from God - she has complex and emotionally fraught relationships with her visions, and develops wildly intense feelings towards one of her fellow knights. Yes, Joan is history’s most famous virgin - but not having sex doesn't mean you can't lose your heart. An intoxicating depiction of Joan's inner world, this is a sexy, fast-paced show that combines the mischievous irreverence of The Favourite with the stylistic daring of Euphoria and Squid Game.
in development WITH:
Wall to wall
the doctors
blackwell
In 1845 the idea of a female doctor was a joke. There were more than forty medical schools across America... and every student, professor and janitor was a man. Pursuing any form of higher education would - those same doctors warned - turn women into literal freak shows, with shriveled bodies and monstrously oversized brains. But two renegade sisters were about to turn the joke on them.
Based on Janice P. Nimura's 2021 Pulitzer Prize nominated biography, this series tells the remarkable story of the Elizabeth and Emily Blackwell, the women who fought to become America's first qualified female doctors. They weren't selfless saints or perfect, ‘you go girl’ feminist pin-ups - they were fascinating flawed and complicated women who were trying to change the world.
Set in New York during the tempestuous build-up to the American Civil War, this is a show about the joys and complexities of sisterhood - literal and metaphorical.
in development WITH:
anonymous content
DRAWN TO TROUBLE
This is the punk rock story of how three penniless art students took on the establishment and beat them at their own game. Passionate friendships, fierce rivalries and debauched sexual liaisons – welcome to the extraordinary world of Britain’s most outrageous art forger.
Based on the real life of Eric Hebborn, DRAWN TO TROUBLE is the story of a gay, working class maverick who sent shockwaves through the international art scene. It's a wild ride of a film: from beatnik bars with David Hockney, to run-ins with the Italian Mafia, lavish parties with Peggy Guggenheim, and an intimate relationship with Anthony Blunt, the infamous art historian and secret Soviet spy.
At its heart, this is a story about friendship – the intoxicating, conspiratorial adventures that bind us together, the devastating betrayals that can last a lifetime, and the redemption that we’re all hoping to find from the people we love.
in development WITH:
ORiGIN PICTURES
AND THE BFI
PREVIOUSLY
something wicked
Meticulously plotted revenge and illicit sex. Dangerous obsessions and notes slipped in lockers. Unrequited love and closely watched Instagram accounts. Homework, lunch-break and murder.
Welcome to Elsinore - the school where every pupil is a teenage version of a character from Shakespeare.
SOMETHING WICKED is a modern teen noir - a twisted murder mystery set in the glamorous world of an English boarding school. The social politics are ruthless, the nests of secrets are deadly and someone in that classroom has blood on their hands. Villain, hopeless romantic, tragic damsel - don’t trust anything you think you know.
bBC STUDIOS
developed WITH:
diary girls
Champagne. Red carpets. Flirting with film stars. Chasing down stories till 3am. Night bus home. Mattress on the floor of a shoebox flat. Back in the office four hours later.
Welcome to the world of London’s young gossip writers.
Based on the three years Jessica spent working as a diarist for the Evening Standard, DIARY GIRLS offers a glimpse behind the curtain into the London’s extraordinary, celebrity-driven party scene.
It reveals the reality of being a struggling twentysomething journalist, surviving in the city while being screamed at by editors, humiliated by supermodels and falling for movie stars.
pLayground
developed WITH:
CASADOR
When you’re a child, magic is real. All you have to is find it. So you wait. Patiently. For years. And then - you grow up. Suddenly you're too busy with school, house parties, sexting and snapchat to look for magic.
But... what if that was a mistake?
CASADOR is a teen drama about what happens when the creatures from your nightmares and dreams finally stop hiding just out of sight – and come crashing through into the real world.
developed WITH:
CBBC and
CLERKENWELL FILMS
GEMINI
CO-CREATED WITH IDRIS ELBA
If you came face-to-face with your doppelgänger - what would you do? GEMINI is a gripping, psychological thriller about the seductiveness of taking a break from your own life. The uncanniness of teaching someone how to pass themselves off as you. And the danger of giving anyone the power to do that.
GREEN DOOR PICTURES
developed WITH:
APHRA
Libertine. Playwright. Royalist. Spy.