Dr Death, Becoming Elizabeth, Queer as Folk lead US charge to Channel 4

Crime drama Dr Death is based on a podcast

UK commercially funded pubcaster Channel 4 has added a slew of US drama to its newly rebranded streaming offering, led by Dr Death, Becoming Elizabeth and Queer as Folk.

The network recently rebranded All4, its free streaming service, as Channel 4 to make it more aligned with its linear offering.

Its content line-up will now be boosted by a host of acquisitions set to premiere this summer. The first seasons of Dr Death and the US version of Queer as Folk (both 8×60’) have both been acquired from NBCUniversal.

Dr Death, which aired on US streamer Peacock, is based on a podcast from Wondery. It tells the true story of Dr Christopher Duntsch, a rising star in the Dallas medical community who maimed and killed his patients.

Queer as Folk, another Peacock series, is the new US adaptation of Russell T Davies’ UK drama that originally aired on Channel 4 in 1999.

Starz period drama Becoming Elizabeth (8×60’) has been picked up from Lionsgate and is joined on C4’s summer slate by The Girl from Plainville, a crime miniseries created by Liz Hannah and Patrick Macmanus for Disney-owned streamer Hulu.

Thriller Cruel Summer (10×60’), from executive producers Jessica Biel and Michelle Purple, focuses on a girl missing from a small town in Texas and another who mysteriously takes over her life. The series was commissioned by Freeform in the US and is being distributed by eOne.

Previously announced Channel 4 originals include the return of prison drama Screw, created by Rob Williams and starring Nina Sosanya (Good Omens, His Dark Materials, W1A) and Jamie-Lee O’Donnell (Derry Girls), and crime thriller Before We Die, led by Lesley Sharp (Scott and Bailey, Three Girls), which will return to Channel 4 for a second season.

Also new to the broadcaster is comedy drama The Change, created by and starring comedian Bridget Christie. The show follows a woman who becomes invigorated after her doctor tells her she’s going through the menopause.