Lavish, high-end television dramas with star-studded casts are making a big comeback this year, many of them international co-productions which underline the global character of the genre, television industry experts say.
“We’re seeing more very large TV drama productions with casts of well-known international stars,” said Laurine Garaude, director of the television division at Reed Midem, which organises the annual MIPTV audiovisual entertainment show trade show taking place in Cannes this week.
“This is a trend that is growing and people are really trying to create global stories that work everywhere in the world,” Ms Garaude said.
Many of the new productions draw from history – telling well-known stories that have fascinated people over the ages or casting a light on obscure or forgotten events that occurred not long ago.
The return of the big historical period drama was heralded by the success of the British fantasy drama Merlin and a remake of the Edwardian period saga Upstairs Downstairs.
Both shows have been picked up around the world, with Merlin still casting its spell on audiences as production of series four gets underway for broadcast this autumn.
The big selection of dramas on offer in Cannes this year is attracting a lot of interest on the busy MIPTV market floor, where the real business of buying and selling TV programmes is done during the four-day show.
Britain’s ITV Studios is pitching a high-end version of the Titanic story in anticipation of the 100th anniversary of the April 15, 1912 sinking of the mythical ocean liner (see opposite page).
A clutch of mini-series being premiered in Cannes this week is also generating a lot of excitement.
Borgia, for instance, is a big-budget co-production between France’s Canal+ and Germany’s EOS Entertainment that chronicles the turbulent and violent reign of the Borgia family during the Italian Renaissance.
Starring John Doman of The Wire, the costume drama cost €25 million to produce, making it the largest television series ever financed out of Europe.
The cast of an opulent 10-episode telling of Camelot meanwhile turned up in Cannes for the premiere of the Irish-Canadian co-production presented by GK-tv.
Joseph Fiennes of Shakespeare in Love fame, plays Merlin in this new take on the classic tale of King Arthur and his court.
Eva Green, a Bond girl in Casino Royale who plays Morgan le Fay in the series, also attended the premiere along with up-and-coming actor Jamie Campbell Bower who takes the role of the young, impetuous King Arthur.
The Sinking of the Laconia is an epic story about the September 1942 loss of an ocean liner on its way back to Britain from Egypt carrying British soldiers, Italian prisoners of war and a number of civilians.
The ship was torpedoed by a German U-boat, whose commander then instructed his crew to save as many lives as possible, then messaged the Allies to organize a rescue mission – only for a US bomber to attack the submarine.
Laconia was five years in the making, FreemantleMedia executive Emmanuelle Namiech said, highlighting the complexity of the co-production process.
“It’s all about finding breakthrough pieces that are a combination of the best writing talent and marrying that with well known actors,” Ms Namiech noted.
Other new dramas series due to debut on screens shortly include The Crimson Petal and the White that is based on Michel Faber’s international bestseller and Exile from award-winning writer and producer Paul Abbott.