Channel 5 calls on Clapperboard as it resorts to Desperate Measures

ViacomCBS-owned broadcaster Channel 5 in the UK has commissioned two dramas from London-based production company Clapperboard.

Sebastian Cardwell

Desperate Measures (4×60’), which follows a mother as she sets out to stage a bank heist to save her son, is produced in association with international distributor Eccho Rights.

Executive producers are Mike Benson and Julie Ryan for Clapperboard, alongside Adam Barth and Nicola Söderlund for Eccho Rights. Helen Ostler (The Last Kingdom) is the producer, while Anthony Philipson (Our Girl) serves as director.

Meanwhile, The Winter Child (4×60’) is produced in association with Chapter One and Endeavor Content. Endeavor Content also handles worldwide distribution of the title outside the UK.

Written by Giula Sandler (White House Farm), The Winter Child sees a single mother become obsessed with a missing person investigation. It is produced by Cormac Fox (Animals) and directed by Dominic Leclerc (The Teacher).

Both series were ordered by Sebastian Cardwell, deputy chief content officer UK at Paramount, who said: “I’m delighted to be working with the talented Clapperboard team again on these exciting additions to our scripted slate. These new commissions for 2022 illustrate the continued growth of Channel 5’s thriving drama portfolio, and I’m looking forward to seeing them come to fruition over the next year.”