Maya leads All3Media International’s London TV Screenings drama slate

Maya, starring Bella Ramsey and created and co-directed by Daisy Haggard

LONDON TV SCREENINGS: UK-based distributor All3Media International has unveiled its scripted slate for the London TV Screenings this week, led by psychological thriller Maya.

From Two Brothers Pictures, Maya (6×60’), was created and co-directed by Daisy Haggard (Back to Life), who also stars, for UK pubcaster Channel 4. Also starring Bella Ramsey (The Last of Us), the story is about a single mother and her teenage daughter forced into witness protection in rural Scotland.

From Synchronicity and Easy Tiger is Careless (4×60’), a thriller for Stan in Australia and Channel 4. The series follows a young Scottish backpacker who becomes a live-in carer to a fading rock star diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.

Gone (6×60’), is written by George Kay (Lupin, Hijack) and produced by New Pictures and Observatory Pictures for ITV in the UK. The series centres on a respected private school headmaster, played by David Morrissey, whose life unravels when his wife disappears and he becomes the prime suspect.

Also for ITV is Secret Service (5×60’), an espionage thriller from Potboiler Productions. Directed by James Marsh and adapted from a novel by journalist Tom Bradby, the series stars Gemma Arterton as an MI6 officer racing to prove a senior UK politician may be operating as a Russian asset. Rafe Spall also stars.

Meanwhile, Saviour (6×60’), from Parti Productions and Drama Republic, is a thriller written by criminal barrister-turned-author Imran Mahmood and exec produced by Peter Moffat. The series explores themes of justice, institutional corruption and the limits of familial loyalty.

Legal drama Counsels (8×60’), co-created by Skins writer Bryan Elsley and Gillian McCormack, follows a group of young lawyers in Glasgow at a pivotal moment in their careers. It is produced by Balloon Entertainment for BBC iPlayer, BBC One and BBC Scotland in coproduction with Germany’s ZDFneo.

Completing the new slate is Babies (6×60’), from Snowed-In Productions and The Money Men. Written and directed by Stefan Golaszewski, the BBC drama explores the emotional complexities facing a young couple trying to become parents.

Alongside the new launches, All3Media International will showcase the second seasons of Two Brothers’ The Assassin and Gaelic crime drama The Island (Black Camel Pictures), as well as season four of HTM Television’s Trigger Point and season three of Studio Lambert’s comedy drama Boarders.

It is also selling season 12 of New Zealand detective drama The Brokenwood Mysteries (South Pacific Pictures), season 26 of long-running series Midsomer Murders (Bentley Productions) and season seven of Yorkshire-set All Creatures Great & Small (Playground Entertainment).

Elsewhere the company’s documentary line-up is led by Michael Jackson: The Trial (4×60’) from Wonderhood Studios for Channel 4 in the UK. Featuring unseen footage, unheard audio tapes of Michael Jackson and exclusive interviews, it tells the inside story of how the King of Pop was put on trial in 2005 for the alleged sexual molestation of a young boy.

From the makers of Pompeii: The New Dig, Lion TV delivers a feature-length documentary The Lost Kingdom of Arabia which reveals the story of Ghassan, a Christian Arab kingdom that once stood at the crossroads of empire, between Rome in the west and a rising Persian superpower in the east.

Another Lion TV project, Taylor Swift: A Love Story, a 1×60’ doc for Channel 4, is also included along with 2.6 Seconds (4×60’) a true-crime series from Blackfella Films for SBS and NITV that examines how a police shooting that sent shockwaves across Australia.