Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

UKTV and BBC Studios acquire new shows from AMC Networks for Drama, Alibi, UKTV Play and BBC First in Benelux

12/09/2023

Mrs Sidhu Investigates, Signora Volpe S1, Whitstable Pearl S1-2, Darby and Joan, The South Westerlies and Dark Winds set to premiere later this year and early 2024 on Drama, Alibi, UKTV Play and BBC First Benelux.

12th September 2023 UKTV and BBC Studios have secured the U.K. and Benelux rights to shows from AMC Networks in a joint deal. The shows are Mrs Sidhu Investigates (4x90), Darby and Joan S1 (8 x 60), Signora Volpe S1 (3 x90) and Whitstable Pearl S1-2 (2 x 6x60) for its free-to-air channel Drama and free streaming service UKTV Play. AMCs Dark Winds (6x60) will air on crime channel Alibi, and Acorn TVs The South Westerlies (8x60) will be available on UKTV Play.

Additional shows The Madame Blanc Mysteries S1-2 (13 x 60), London Kills S3 (10 x 60) and Queens of Mysteries S2 (6 x 45) have also been acquired for BBC First in Benelux, a premium British drama channel, curated locally for Dutch and Belgian audiences and available on leading platforms in the market.

This deal is the first between UKTV and AMC Networks and was secured by Jimmy Rumble, global acquisitions manager at BBC Studios and UKTV.

Melanie Rumani, global head of acquisitions at BBC Studios and UKTV said

Its brilliant to see our portfolio on Drama, Alibi and UKTV Play, as well as BBC Studios owned BBC First in Benelux, a significant buyer of UK drama content in the market, continue to grow with these fantastic new additions.

Mike Pears, EVP of distribution and content sales for AMC Networks said

The BBC has been a longstanding valued partner of ours and we are excited by this new chapter in our relationship. Both in the U.S. and around the world, we want to make our shows available on a wide variety of platforms, to find new viewers and build awareness of the high-quality content that continues to define our company.

Mrs Sidhu Investigates and Signora Volpe are set to premiere on Drama and UKTV Play this Autumn, with Whitstable Pearl and Darby and Joan airing on the channel early 2024. The South Westerlies premieres exclusively on UKTV Play in October and Dark Winds will be available to watch on Alibi also from October.

Emma Ayech, channel director for Drama and Alibi, said

I am thrilled to have these exciting new titles join our stellar programming line-up on both Drama and Alibi. With each new acquisition there will be compelling storytelling, entertaining characters, and gripping narratives thatll both captivate and engage our audiences, which Im very excited to see.

Andrea Amey, UKTVs general manager for digital, added

We are pleased to be adding Mrs Sidhu Investigates, Signora Volpe, Whitstable Pearl, Darby and Joan and The South Westerlies to our ever-growing catalogue of quality drama on UKTV Play. Were dedicated to making our platform one that provides an array of premium content that all viewers can watch and enjoy freely, and these are sure to be a hit with our audience to binge on across the Autumn.

Based on the popular BBC Radio 4 series of the same name, the four-episode series is created and written by Suk Pannu (The Kumars at No. 42). Mrs Sidhu Investigates finds Mrs Sidhu (Meera Syal CBE FRSL - The Kumars at No. 42), a recently widowed, high-end caterer with a taste for crime, solving murders and other investigations amongst the affluent residents of Berkshire. She uses a lifetime as an Indian Auntie to sharpen her skills as an investigator, whilst juggling her new catering business and wrangling with her wayward son Tez (Gurjeet Singh - Ackley Bridge). She forms an unofficial partnership with world weary police officer, DCI Burton (Craig Parkinson - Line of Duty), much to the amusement of his official partner DS Mint (Naana Agyei-Ampadu - Death in Paradise).

Emilia Fox (Silent Witness) leads the cast in Signora Volpe and plays Sylvia Fox, a disillusioned British spy-turned-detective who starts a new life in the beautiful heart of Italy, but soon finds out trouble follows her wherever she goes. The series sees Sylvia in Italy for her nieces wedding when the groom goes missing. Sylvia solves the mystery and, longing to reconnect with her sister (Tara Fitzgerald - Game of Thrones), decides to start anew in Umbria. Soon shes tackling other cases and winning over a handsome local cop (Giovanni Cirfiera - Ford vs Ferrari), even as her ex-husband/ex-colleague (Jamie Bamber - Beyond Paradise) tries to lure her back.

Based on a series of novels by Julie Wassmer, Kerry Godliman (After Life) leads detective drama Whitstable Pearl where single mum Pearl (Godliman) pursues her lifelong dream of starting a private detective agency, which she runs from her family restaurant in the coastal town of Whitstable. Drawn by her caring nature, locals soon flock to her with all kinds of cases. But, when a friend dies suspiciously, Pearl finds herself in conflict with gruff new cop in town, DCI Mike McGuire (Howard Charles - Top Boy).

Darby and Joan is an Australian murder mystery and crime dramedy series starring Bryan Brown (Cocktail) and Greta Scacchi (The Player), created by Philip Gwynne and Glenys Rowe. Widowed English nurse Joan Kirkhope (Scacchi) is on a quest to find answers about her husbands mysterious death, while ex-detective Jack Darby (Brown) has taken to the open road; the two meet in the outback and form an unlikely investigative team.

Little lies lead to bigger truths in charming Irish dramedy, The South Westerlies. Environmental consultant Kate Ryan (Orla Brady - Fringe) goes undercover in a small town to quell objections to a wind farm. But Kate has a complicated history with Carrigeen. Soon after arriving with her son, she runs into an ex-friend and an old flame, soon realising her task wont be a breeze. Co-stars Patrick Bergin (Patriot Games).

Dark Winds is an American psychological, noir thriller created by Graham Roland, based on the Leaphorn & Chee novel series by Tony Hillerman. Set
LINK: https://corporate.uktv.co.uk/news/article/uktv-and-bbc-studios-acquire...
See more stories from uktv

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

01/06/2026

Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026

January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026 Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...

01/05/2026

NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to Integrate Dolby's Full Suite of Premium Picture and Sound Innovations

January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...

01/04/2026

DOLBY AND DOUYIN EMPOWER THE NEXT GENERATON OF CREATORS WITH DOLBY VISION

January 4 2026, 18:00 (PST) DOLBY AND DOUYIN EMPOWER THE NEXT GENERATON OF CREATORS WITH DOLBY VISION Douyin Users Can Now Create And Share Videos With Stun...

28/01/2026

Marshall Electronics Unveils CV420 27X UHD Camera at ISE...

Marshall Electronics launches the CV420-27X, its next-generation ultra-high-definition (UHD) IP camera, at ISE 2026 (Stand 4N900). Engineered for modern IP-base...

28/01/2026

TVM Selects Grass Valley Technology for OB Truck Refurbis...

Grass Valley has announced that Television Mobiles Ltd. (TVM), one of Europe's leading independent outside broadcast providers, has carried out a major refu...

28/01/2026

FOR-A to show cutting edge technology at FOMEX 2026

AI, graphics and virtual software power new production capabilities FOR-A is bringing remarkable new technologies to FOMEX, the Future of Media Exhibition (ex...

28/01/2026

Riedel and Media Tailor Deliver Unified Broadcast and AV...

Continuing a longstanding collaboration, Riedel Communications and Nordic media technology company Media Tailor have once again joined forces to deliver a state...

28/01/2026

Pebble appoints Paul Nagle-Smith to drive fulfilment

Pebble has appointed Paul Nagle-Smith as vice president for customer fulfilment, strengthening its senior leadership focus on customer delivery and operational ...

28/01/2026

TV Azteca Strengthens Disaster Recovery Capabilities with...

Cloud playout solutions provider, Veset has announced that leading Mexican broadcaster, TV Azteca is using Veset Nimbus on AWS as a disaster recovery (DR) playo...

28/01/2026

MVP kicks off major football tournament with a tactical s...

Ensuring it can keep pace with a rapidly evolving live sports market, Balkan broadcast facility provider MVP Most Valuable Production has upgraded its flags...

28/01/2026

Akamai and Yospace Deliver Seamless Personalized Ad Exper...

Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM), the cloud solutions provider that powers and protects life online, and Yospace, the leader in dynamic ad insertion tec...

28/01/2026

Clear-Com Empowers Reykjavik City Theatre with New Upgrad...

The renowned Reykjavik City Theatre (RCT) recently underwent a major intercom system upgrade using Clear-Com solutions. This milestone project utilizes Clear-C...

28/01/2026

SES Acknowledges Fitch's Rating Action and Reiterates Deleveraging Plan

Luxembourg, January 26, 2026 - SES S.A. ( SES or the Company ), a leading space solutions company, acknowledges the credit rating action announced by Fitch to...

28/01/2026

OpenDrives Announces New Funding, Appoints Trevor Morgan CEO

Share Share by: Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

28/01/2026

AWARN Alliance Backs ATSC Sunset, NextGen TV Security Measures

Share Share by: Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

28/01/2026

More Than Two Dozen Groups Tell FCC to Reject Nexstar-Tegna Deal

Share Share by: Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

28/01/2026

Screen Australia refreshes Market & Audience approach to increase the impact of local content

28 01 2026 - Media release Screen Australia refreshes Market & Audience approach...

28/01/2026

Boston Conservatory Orchestra Premieres a New Piano Concerto by Peter and Leonardo Dugan

Boston Conservatory Orchestra Premieres a New Piano Concerto by Peter and Leonar...

27/01/2026

Akamai and Yospace Deliver Seamless, Personalised Ad Experiences to Tens of Millions of ABEMA Users

Click for Japanese version Tokyo, Japan - January 27, 2026 - Akamai Technolo...

27/01/2026

Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and Sundance Institute Name Winners of Science-In-Film Initiative's Feature Film Prize and Artist Grants

L-R: Jonathan Cuchacovich, Sonia Kennebeck, Alan Fischer, Daeil Kim, Andrew Sta...

27/01/2026

B-LINE Is Here to Help: Backline Launches 24/7 Music Industry Mental Health & Crisis Support Line in Partnership with Spotify

Today, Spotify is proud to support our partner Backline, an industry-leading men...

27/01/2026

Netn Vega's Genre-Bending Sound Hits a Crossover Moment on Spotify's RADAR

With nearly 29 million monthly listeners and clear momentum on Spotify, Net n Ve...

27/01/2026

25 Ontario Named One of Torontos Best New Buildings

January 14, 2026 We are proud to share that 25 Ontario, First Gulf's commercial project located just two minutes from our head office, has been recognized ...

27/01/2026

Full-Building Lease Secured at Speers Road

January 22, 2026 First Gulf is excited to share that a full-building lease has been secured at 625 Bronte Rd in Oakville, part of Bronte Station Business Park,...

27/01/2026

Another Gold for First Gulf and 351 King Street East

January 23, 2026 First Gulf continues to demonstrate its commitment to high-performance, sustainable real estate with 351 King Street East achieving BOMA BEST ...

27/01/2026

Clear-Com Empowers Reykjavik City Theatre with New Upgrades

eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({ content_source:......

27/01/2026

Hubbard Broadcasting Renews Partnership With Nielsen in Albany and Albuquerque-Santa Fe Markets

Nielsen will continue to drive growth and provide local audience measurement in...

27/01/2026

Pebble Adds Paul Nagle-Smith as VP of Customer Fulfillment

Share Share by: Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Pinterest Bluesky Email...

27/01/2026

Study: Top Reason for Cancelling Streaming Service Is Programming

Share Share by: Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Pinterest Bluesky Email...

27/01/2026

U.K.'s Digital TV Group Taps Leslie Mackenzie as Chair

Share Share by: Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Pinterest Bluesky Email...

27/01/2026

Amagi becomes the first cloud-native SaaS company offerin...

Amagi Media Labs Limited, the only cloud-native SaaS provider offering end-to-end solutions across live production, content preparation, distribution, and monet...

27/01/2026

Miri Technologies Launches V410 Live 4K Video Encoder-Dec...

Miri Technologies Inc. today unveiled its V410 live 4K video encoder/decoder for streaming, IP-based production workflows and AV-over-IP distribution. Designed ...

27/01/2026

UML Tsongas Center Upgrades with Ikegami UHK-X600 Cameras

The Paul E. Tsongas Center at UMass Lowell in Massachusetts has chosen Ikegami cameras for incorporation into its broadcast-quality television production facili...

27/01/2026

SipRadius provides simplicity and security for AV content...

SipRadius, specialists in secure, low latency media transport, will show the pro AV community its end-to-end solution for high quality content distribution and ...

27/01/2026

Hiltron to Showcase its Full Range of Satcom Solutions at...

Hiltron will highlight the fruits of its 45-plus years of experience in satellite communications system integration and product development at the annual GovSat...

27/01/2026

Broadcast and pro AV professionals cut costs and single-u...

Klvr will demonstrate how its Charger Pro solution is delivering cost reduction and performance benefits for live entertainment and pro AV markets at ISE 2026 (...

27/01/2026

Amino Showcases Single Player Digital Signage and Enterpr...

Amino, a global media technology leader in enterprise video and digital signage, today announced that its Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) 2026 booth (4N700) wil...

27/01/2026

ANI Expands Strategic Partnership with LiveU

ANI, India's leading news agency and a major content provider across the Asia Pacific region, today announced a significant expansion of its long standing p...

27/01/2026

VisualOn and The Channel Store Demonstrate Up to 65 Perce...

Independent analysis confirms faster encoding, lower CPU usage, and improved perceptual quality compared to CBR and CRF VisualOn, a leader in multimedia playba...

27/01/2026

EVS Officially Launches eShop

Share Share by: Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Pinterest Bluesky Email...

27/01/2026

Miri to Showcase New V410 Video Encoder/Decoder at ISE 2026

Share Share by: Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Pinterest Bluesky Email...

27/01/2026

FCC Settles Two Investigations, Renews Three TV Station Licenses

Share Share by: Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Pinterest Bluesky Email...

27/01/2026

UML Tsongas Center Upgrades to Ikegami UHK-X600 Cameras

Share Share by: Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Pinterest Bluesky Email...

27/01/2026

Australian Defence Force Secures Satellite Communications on SES IS-22

New agreement for uninterrupted UHF connectivity for Australian Defence Force through 2033, With Options Extending to 2041 Luxembourg, January 13, 2026 - Satel...

27/01/2026

SNL UK creative team expands as Pauli Lovejoy, Annie Hardinge and Kevin Fortune join series

Tuesday 27 January 2026 SNL UK creative team expands as Pauli Lovejoy, Annie Ha...

27/01/2026

When It Feels Real, Is It Still a Lie? The Art of Sarah' Premieres February 13

Back to All News When It Feels Real, Is It Still a Lie? The Art of Sarah' ...

27/01/2026

That Night premiering on Netflix March 13

Back to All News That Night premiering on Netflix March 13 Entertainment 27 January 2026 GlobalSpain Link copied to clipboard DOWNLOAD THE KEY ART DOWNLO...

27/01/2026

Netflix Revealed the Future of Mexican Stories Coming in 2026

Back to All News Netflix Revealed the Future of Mexican Stories Coming in 2026 Entertainment 27 January 2026 GlobalMexico Link copied to clipboard Among t...