Whitstable Pearl heads Cineflix MipTV slate

Crime-solving cafe owner Kerry Godliman in Whitstable Pearl

UK distributor Cineflix Rights has unveiled a slate of scripted and factual content for next week’s Digital MipTV, led by crime drama Whitstable Pearl.

Six-part procedural Whitstable Pearl stars Kerry Godliman (Derek, After Life) as a crime-solving cafe owner. It is produced by Cineflix-owned Buccaneer Media for Acorn TV, the AMC Networks-owned platform hosting UK content for a foreign audience.

Another crime offering is Rebecca (8×60’), a French series made locally by Elephant for French broadcaster TF1. Based on Cineflix’s ITV series Marcella, which has run since 2016, the show sees Parisian police officer Rebecca return to the force after six years away, only to find that her previous target is also back.

The third season of Marcella is also on Cineflix’s slate, along with Calgary prodco Seven24’s Wyonna Earp, Canadian crime drama Coroner and An Ordinary Woman, made for Russia’s TV3.

The distributor’s factual content includes recently acquired series Extra Life: A Short History of Living Longer (4×60’), made by London’s Nutopia for US pubcaster PBS. The series was recently sold to UK channel BBC4 and explores the medical innovations that have kept humans alive.

The Story of Late Night, from Canada’s Cream Productions, reviews the US’s greatest talkshow hosts. The six parter will start airing on US network CNN in early May.

Returning factual series include UK broadcaster Channel 5’s My Big Family Farm and World’s Most Scenic Railway Journeys; The Weather Channel’s Storm Stories: The Next Chapter; kids’ format Step Up to the Plate; New Zealand nature show Inside Taronga Zoo; and crime series Homicide: Hours to Kill.

Chris Bonney, Cineflix’s rights CEO, who is retiring this year, said: “This will be my final Cineflix Rights launch slate at MipTV and I believe it’s the strongest yet. Our latest scripted acquisitions represent the best of UK and international talent, with a range of gripping crime drama. On the factual side, fascinating new blue-chip science and history documentaries sit together with returning seasons of proven hits, and escapist entertainment to provide something for every buyer.”