Travel series Fantastic Friends ventures to US with The CW broadcast pick-up

Mark Williams, who plays Arthur Weasley in Harry Potter, with the Phelps brothers

UK travel series Fantastic Friends is heading to the US via a newly inked licensing deal with broadcast network The CW.

The project, produced by Dash Pictures and sold internationally by Off the Fence (OTF), will debut on The CW on July 18, with the US network also committing to picking up a second season.

Canadian SVoD service Crave and Warner Bros Discovery’s Max in EMEA also picked up the rights to season two, after both streamers had launched the show in their respective territories last summer. Season two has been extended to eight episodes, two more than in its first season.

Fantastic Friends is hosted by actors and twin brothers James and Oliver Phelps, who are known for playing Fred and George Weasley in the Harry Potter movie franchise. While on their latest travels, they will be joined by famous faces including Mark Williams, who played the twins’ father in the Harry Potter films, plus Matt Lewis, Alfie Enoch, Nat Tena and Stanislav Yanevski. Each episode sees the Phelps twins travel to a destination to meet up with a friend, who then assumes the role of tour guide.

Filmed in locations including Turkey, the Swiss Alps, Singapore, Australia, Florida in the US, Chile and Patagonia, the show is produced by Dash Pictures’ Daniel Sharp and Agata Pieczynska (For the Love of the Game; Prince Harry in Africa) and exec produced by the Phelps brothers, Martin Blencowe and Sharp.

The CW has been transitioning out of a network known almost entirely for teen drama into a more unscripted-focused channel since it was purchased by Nexstar last year.