CBS Reality builds up originals slate

CBS Reality in the UK has extended its original commissions slate with a trio of true crime and survival shows from local indie Peninsula Films.

Sam Rowden

The first to air, at the end of this month, will be Uncovering Melanie’s Murderer (1×60’), focusing on the 1984 killing of teenager Melanie Road which remained unsolved for three decades.

The Day I Should Have Died (10×60’) is a series focusing on extraordinary tales of survival, starting with Gill Hicks, who was caught up in the 7/7 London bombings.

That will premiere in the autumn along with another one-off, Slave to Love, which focuses on the sado-masochistic murder of Irish woman Elaine O’Hara at the hands of her lover Graham Dwyer.

All three shows were commissioned by Sam Rowden, director of programming for CBS Reality.

The AMC Networks International channel kicked off a concerted push into original commissions last year with 12-part series Donal MacIntyre: Unsolved and recently greenlit another series with MacIntyre, a coproduction with Australian pay TV outfit Foxtel.