Presto lines up UK doc talent

Australian subscription VoD service Presto has acquired BBC factual programming featuring the likes of Michael Palin, Stephen Fry and Joanna Lumley to its library.

Travel series Brazil with Michael Palin

The package, comprising almost 100 hours of TV documentaries distributed by BBC Worldwide Australia & New Zealand, will be available on the service from July 16.

Among the programmes are Brazil with Michael Palin and Michael Palin’s New Europe, which feature the Monty Python star travelling to South America and the 20 countries once behind the Iron Curtain, respectively.

Presto is also adding Stephen Fry and the Great American Oil Spill, in which the presenter look at one of the worst ecological disasters ever, as well as Fry’s Planet Word, which explores thousands of years of language.

Other titles include The Quest for Noah’s Ark, featuring Joanna Lumley, Australia with Simon Reeve, An African Journey with Jonathan Dimbleby and various Louis Theroux documentaries.

Launched in January, Presto is locked in a battle for subscribers with Netflix, Stan and Quickflix in Australia.

It has previously done deals with international companies such as HBO, Showtime, 20th Century Fox, CBS Studios International, as well as local providers including ABC Commercial, Foxtel and Seven West Media.