BritBox links with Stan & Ollie scribe

David Tennant in BritBox’s There She Goes

BritBox, the joint streaming service from UK broadcasters ITV and BBC, has agreed a multi-series partnership with Stan & Ollie writer Jeff Pope.

Under the pact, North America-focused BritBox will coproduce Pope’s original BBC drama The Barking Murders (working title), written by Neil McKay (The Suspicions of Mr Whicher). The pair previously collaborated on true crime drama Appropriate Adult.

The Barking Murders, which was greenlit last week, is based on the real-life story of UK serial killer and rapist Stephen Port.

The 3×60’ series stars Stephen Merchant (Extras, The Office) and Sheridan Smith (The Moorside, Care). The show is being produced by ITV Studios for BBC1 and was commissioned by Piers Wenger, controller of BBC Drama, and Charlotte Moore, director of BBC Content. Pope shares exec production duties with McKay and Lucy Richer.

Pope is also the writer and creator of ITV’s The Hatton Garden Heist, the second BritBox original collaboration with the creative, starring Timothy Spall (Mr. Turner, Harry Potter). The series, also based on real-life events, centres on the infamous 2015 safe deposit burglary in London.

BritBox has also unveiled a number of forthcoming series for the service, including new seasons of detective drama Bancroft with Sarah Parish, Cold Feet with James Nesbitt, and the final season of Mum starring Lesley Manville.

These join new productions There She Goes, starring David Tennant and Jessica Hynes, and ensemble comedy Living the Dream. The series will be part of the BritBox roster in the coming months and will complement its mix of fresh UK programming available for North American audiences for the first time.