ITV’s Durrells go global

The Durrells follows a British family’s life on Corfu

Broadcasters in Europe, the Middle East and Australia have picked up ITV family drama The Durrells from distributor BBC Worldwide.

The show, written by Simon Nye (Men Behaving Badly) and produced by Sid Gentle Films in the UK, is based on Gerald Durrell’s autobiographical books about his family’s life on the Greek island of Corfu in the 1930s.

Iceland’s UTV, Australia’s Seven Network, Sky in New Zealand, Estonia’s ETV, YLE in Finland, Latvian Television and Denmark’s TV2 have all acquired the show, which was recently extended into a second season.

It has also been picked up by BBC First in the Middle East and Benelux, joining previous deals with SVT in Sweden and OTE in Greece, where it has already started airing.

ITV claims that the series is its best-rating new drama of the year and its highest rating new show since September 2014. Filming on the second season will take place later this year in Corfu.