With the days getting shorter and the nights longer, at least in the northern hemisphere, more TV is being watched and buyers are stocking up for the holiday season. Here we explore a slew of new titles being shopped by distributors as we move towards Content London later this month.

As families spend more time in front of the TV, drama is the name of the game for this month’s playlist on C21’s Digital Screenings, and no fewer than nine new scripted series have been selected. We also have nine new factual series plus three entertainment formats and four kids’ titles, but we have to start somewhere!

Dramas this month include a trio from German distributors. Soon Comes Night (Red Arrow Studios International) is a gritty crime drama about a liberation hero turned heist king and a broken Apartheid cop seeking redemption in 1990s South Africa, while Concordia (ZDF Studios) is set in an artificial intelligence-powered utopian city, developed by a businesswoman to improve citizens’ lives while safeguarding personal data. Inside a Family, meanwhile, is from Bavaria Media International and sees a family’s dark past resurface when a family member disappears in the midst of a wedding celebration.

The Truth (About Premium Content) centres on a young detective who must revisit the past to figure out the mysteries of the present, while Spinners (StudioCanal) tells a double-layered story of crime, desperation and vicious gangs in Cape Town, mixing vibrant characters and breath-taking action in an irresistible coming-of-age story.

From Greece’s Antenna Studios comes The Witch, a period piece set in 1817 Ottoman-occupied Greece and centring on two rival families who are united by marriage and the birth of their first son, while The Doll Factory (Cineflix Rights) is “a searing story of what happens when a woman dares to take what she wants in a world that would rather kill her than let her have it,” according to the producers.

Rounding out the drama slate, Scrublands (Abacus Media Rights) is set in an isolated country town, where a charismatic young priest calmly opens fire, killing five parishioners. One year later, investigative journalist Martin Scarsden arrives to write a story on the anniversary of the tragedy. And Mr Housekeeper (TV Asahi Corporation) follows a first-rate housekeeper, who can cook, clean, tidy – and clean up messy relationships and dirty secrets as well.

On the factual front, this month’s playlist includes Levison Wood (Blue Ant International), in which the titular explorer journeys into some of the most remote and physically challenging environments on Earth, and Secrets of Our Universe with Tim Peake (All3Media International) sees the astronaut offer a compelling perspective as he embarks on an incredible journey through our universe.

Booked: First Day In (A+E Media Group) follows arrested individuals through America’s booking process, offering an extraordinary look at the most unusual, bizarre and often tense bookings. Rumeysa Walking Tall (GWR Studios), meanwhile, follows the world’s tallest woman on a journey to the US to meet other extraordinary women and to share her message of acceptance and inclusion.

Billy & Dom Eat the World (Off the Fence) follows Lord of the Rings actors Billy Boyd and Dominic Monaghan to six locations around the world, seeking out local dishes, some famous and some new. Also on the list is David Bowie: Ziggy Stardust & The Spiders From Mars (DCD Rights), a new and enhanced 50th anniversary version of Bowie’s iconic 1973 concert filmed by award-winning director DA Pennebaker.

Changing tack somewhat, The Final Flight – An Untold Nazi Mystery (Autentic Distribution) is a gripping docu-thriller that reconstructs a mysterious plane crash during the last days of the Second World War and Stolen Baby: The Murder of Heidi Broussard (Fox Entertainment Global) is based on the true events of the abduction and murder of the eponymous Texan mother.

Rounding out the factual slate, Collisions: Life & Death From Outer Space (Terranoa) is a “highly visual impact film that brings viewers right at the heart of the Deep Impact Day revealing science’s latest breakthroughs on asteroids diversion plan,” according to the producers.

For buyers looking for entertainment and reality formats, check out the following titles: Buddy Games (Banijay Rights) is a competition series in which best buddies face off in a series of outrageously reimagined summer camp games, based on the movie of the same name. Raid the Cage (Sony Pictures Television Formats) sees couples answer general knowledge questions to open the doors to a giant cage full of prizes.

Also on the formats slate, Love by AI (Tokyo Broadcasting System Television) is a dating reality show where couples who are selected by artificial intelligence as the perfect match go through dating completely assisted by AI and see if they can find true love.

For buyers targeting younger audiences, we have four series for kids on this month’s playlist. Barrumbi Kids (Australian Children’s Television Foundation) is a coming-of-age adventure about two best friends growing up in a remote Northern Territory community and Yukee (Aardman Animations) is “a new, music-first preschool series created by musicians for the musicians of the future,” according to the producers.

Stan Can (BBC Studios Kids & Family), meanwhile, follows a can-do hamster who is always happy to help whenever a job needs doing and is based on the books by William Bee. Lastly, Sherwood (Cake) is a modern take on Robin Hood and is described by producers as “a tween action animated adventure.”

That’s all for November, stay tuned for more Hot Properties next month!

With the days getting shorter and the nights longer, at least in the northern hemisphere, more TV is being watched and buyers are stocking up for the holiday season. Here we explore a slew of new titles being shopped by distributors as we move towards Content London later this month.

As families spend more time in front of the TV, drama is the name of the game for this month’s playlist on C21’s Digital Screenings, and no fewer than nine new scripted series have been selected. We also have nine new factual series plus three entertainment formats and four kids’ titles, but we have to start somewhere!

Dramas this month include a trio from German distributors. Soon Comes Night (Red Arrow Studios International) is a gritty crime drama about a liberation hero turned heist king and a broken Apartheid cop seeking redemption in 1990s South Africa, while Concordia (ZDF Studios) is set in an artificial intelligence-powered utopian city, developed by a businesswoman to improve citizens’ lives while safeguarding personal data. Inside a Family, meanwhile, is from Bavaria Media International and sees a family’s dark past resurface when a family member disappears in the midst of a wedding celebration.
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