Antenna receives Tony Jordan drama

Greece’s Antenna Group is teaming up with Hustle writer Tony Jordan and his Red Planet Pictures prodco to produce a crime drama.

Tony Jordan

Besa (12×45’), which has been commissioned by Antenna Group-owned PRVA in Serbia and Planet TV in Slovenia as well as RTL in Croatia, starts filming later this month and is due to air in September.

Besa (a traditional Albanian word meaning code of honour) is set in the world of the Albanian mafia and tells the story of a small business owner forced to work for an organised crime network after he accidentally kills the daughter of a mafia boss in a car crash.

Series creator Jordan (Eastenders, Life on Mars), MD of UK firm Red Planet, will exec produce the programme. He developed the script with a team of local writers, with production taking place on location across South Eastern Europe. International distribution will be handled by Antenna Group head of distribution Tatjana Pavlovic.

“Besa is a unique story that delves into the little-known world of the Albanian mafia – its customs, unimaginable brutality and surprising moral codes,” said Jordan. “It is a great time for me to be working on this original European drama because there is definitely a growing interest from international audiences for high-end scripted content in other languages.”

Pete Smith, director of Antenna Group, said Jordan was an “unparalleled creative talent” and that he was looking forward to working with him and Red Planet to bring the project together.