C4, Walter present Deutschland 83

The UK’s Channel 4 has acquired German spy drama Deutschland 83 from FremantleMedia International for its fledgling foreign drama VoD service.

UFA Fiction’s Deutschland 83

The terrestrial broadcaster revealed plans for the service, initially called 4World Drama, back in June, with former Fox UK boss Jason Thorp and his Global Series Network (GSN) firm on board as partners.

Ahead of its launch as part of the All 4 online platform in 2016, the service has been rebranded Walter Presents and has picked up the Cold War thriller as its headline acquisition.

The name is designed to emphasise the curatorial nature of the service, with GSN chief creative officer Walter Iuzzolino personally handpicking the 600 hours of content to be made available.

Eight-part drama Deutschland 83 is set in divided Germany in the 1980s and will premiere on linear Channel 4 in January before being made available exclusively on Walter Presents.

Created by German-American married duo Anna and Joerg Winger, the series became the first German-language drama to air in the US when it was shown on SundanceTV.

It was produced by UFA Fiction for RTL Television in Germany. FremantleMedia International holds the global rights to the series.