ZDF extends Ku’damm tale

The new ZDF show will use the same cast as Ku’damm 56

German broadcaster ZDF has ordered a follow-up series to Ku’damm 56, its drama about a woman facing social change in Berlin after the Second World War.

The new series has the working title Ku’damm 59, with FremantleMedia-owned prodco UFA Fiction again attached to the project, which retains the original cast and will be written by Annette Hess.

ZDF Enterprises (ZDFE) will again be responsible for global distribution.

“As the global distributor, we are really looking forward to continuing this high-profile production. Its success story only shows the growing international importance of German series and it will now continue with these new episodes,” said Alexander Coridass, president and CEO of ZDFE.

Ku’damm 56: Rebel With a Cause (3×90’) aired on ZDF in March 2016 and led ZDFE’s scripted slate at MipTV in April.

ZDFE has said it has sold the series into the US, UK, Denmark, Slovakia and Estonia. In May, the show aired on Danish channel DR2.

Spy drama Deutschland ’83, which was acquired by SundanceTV in the US, is among the growing number of German scripted shows to gain international attention over the past couple of years.