Dark Heart beats on Britbox

Dark Heart was the first commission for Silverprint Pictures

ITV- and BBC-owned North American streamer BritBox is expanding its offering by adding an adaptation of Adam Creed’s Dark Heart novels to its slate along with a number of other dramas.

Dark Heart was recommissioned by ITV last year from prodco Silverprint Pictures, following a two-hour special that aired on now-defunct network ITV Encore, which became an online-only channel in May.

The 6×60’ series, written by Chris Lang (Unforgotten), focuses on a detective haunted by the murder of his parents during his teens.

The show was the first commission for Silverprint Pictures, launched by former ITV Studios director of drama Kate Bartlett. The drama label is the new incarnation of ITV Studios Drama London, the company behind ITV detective series Vera.

In addition, BritBox will offer BBC miniseries Three Girls, from director Philippa Lowthrope (The Crown) and writer Nicole Taylor (The C Word); Bancroft, featuring Sarah Parish (Broadchurch); and Shakespeare & Hathaway, the biggest drama launch for a BBC daytime series in the last five years.

The streamer is also adding around 300 hours of news and current affairs programming, including UK morning show Good Morning Britain, hosted by Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid. A live Halloween edition of cult comedy show Inside No. 9 is also in the works.

BritBox president Soumya Sriraman said the streamer was “proudly a mass niche service” that “blends the immediacy of broadcast with the swagger of a digital streamer creating what I like to call a broad-streamer.”

Britbox offers 4,600 hours of programming and has committed to a 50% increase in original and acquired content investment this year.

Having launched in the US, the service expanded into Canada earlier this year and execs are now looking for further original commissions and new territories to launch into.