Crime pays for BBCWW

Happy Valley has found buyers in Israel, France and Finland

Broadcasters from Europe, the Middle East and Japan have picked up more than 900 hours of crime drama from the commercial arm of the BBC, including Sherlock, Happy Valley and Luther.

French pay TV broadcaster Canal+ has acquired the fourth season of Luther from BBC Worldwide (BBCWW) as well as the second runs of Prey and Happy Valley. Public broadcaster France 3 has also licensed Prey, Unforgotten and Happy Valley’s first season.

In Germany, Degeto has taken Maigret and Sherlock: The Abominable Bride, while Sherlock S4 and Prey S2 have been licensed to WDR.

ZDF has purchased the recent Luther special while ZDFneo has renewed all episodes of Inspector Lynley.

Sherlock, Death in Paradise S5, Unforgotten and Luther S3-4 are part of a mixed package totalling 232 hours that has been sold to SVT in Sweden, while the country’s TV4 has acquired Silent Witness.

In Denmark, DR has licensed Luther S4 and TV2 has taken Doctor Foster, amongst a number of other titles. Norway’s NRK and Finland’s YLE have also bought a range of crime titles including Prey S2 and Happy Valley S2.

Czech Television in the Czech Republic, Pickbox in Croatia and Channel One in Russia have secured Sherlock: The Abominable Bride. In Hungary, CLT UFA has ordered Miss Marple and MTVA has licensed Sherlock S1-3 and Father Brown S3-4.

BBCWW has sold a number of crime dramas in the Middle East, including Sherlock S1-3 to Al Araby, the entire catalogue of Spooks to Israel’s Hot Telecommunications and Happy Valley, Unforgotten and Sherlock S1-3 to YES DBS Satellite.

A recent deal with Multichoice VoD service Showmax saw titles including Ripper Street and Luther travel to Africa.

Further afield, over 200 hours of crime drama have been sold by BBCWW across Asia, including The Coroner, which has been licensed to AXN Mystery in Japan.

In South Korea, Father Brown S2-3 has gone to PBC (PTV) and Sherlock S1-3 to CJ E&M (PTV) and SK Broadband. SK Broadband also bought Luther S1-2. PCCW in Hong Kong has gone for An Inspector Calls and AXN India has ordered Sherlock: The Abominable Bride, while Star India has signed for the fourth run of Luther.

Elsewhere in the southern hemisphere, Prime has picked up The Coroner and Unforgotten, which will air on New Zealand free-to-air television for the first time, as well as the much-loved Father Brown. In Australia, New Tricks, Wallander, DCI Banks and Father Brown have all been renewed by ABC.

Paul Dempsey, president of global markets at BBCWW, said: “British crime drama is hugely popular around the world and accounts for over 40% of our drama revenue.

“BBCWW Showcase is the perfect opportunity to celebrate the range and quality of our crime slate in the company of some of the world’s most watched heroes and villains.”

The BBC Worldwide Showcase event is being held in Liverpool this week.