Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Paul McGann, Tim McInnerny and many more join as guest stars for Alibi's Bookish

22/07/2024

Further guest stars are now confirmed for Bookish (6x70'), a brand-new drama created by Emmy Award-winning writer Mark Gatiss, for UKTV's specialist crime drama channel Alibi. The series is produced by Eagle Eye Drama and filming is now underway in Belgium. As international partner, Beta Film is handling the world sales.

Paul McGann (Annika, Doctor Who) will star as Mr Kind in episodes 5 and 6, alongside Tim McInnerny (One Day, Ten Percent) as D' , Elizabeth Berrington (Henpocalypse!, Fifteen-Love) as Sylvia Orr, Mark Umbers (Hotel Portofino) as Victor Orr and Angeliki Papoulia (The Lobster) as Princess Ruhije.

Mark Gatiss writes and stars as the erudite and unconventional Gabriel Book who, from his antiquarian bookshop, helps the police to solve a variety of mysterious crimes. With three main cases in the series, each storyline spans two-episode instalments.

London, 1946 is the dynamic, dangerous and chaotic setting for this stylish new detective drama, with the eccentric Gabriel Book (Gatiss) at the very heart of the story: a self-appointed consultant detective to the local police. The thousands of books that line the shelves of his shop provide him with all the knowledge he needs.

Book has gathered around him a host of lovable, damaged misfits whom he informally protects, cajoles, and mentors. His wife Trottie (Polly Walker) runs the wallpaper shop next door. Shes a charismatic adventuress whom Book loves deeply but not physically, for they are in a lavender' marriage to help conceal Book's sexual orientation in a time when it was illegal to be gay.

Bookish marries post-war nostalgia with the reckless and life-affirming atmosphere of the times, creating a fast-paced and stylish detective drama.

The UKTV Original series has been commissioned by Helen Perry, head of drama for UKTV, and ordered by Emma Ayech, channel director for Alibi, and Hilary Rosen, director of commissioning. Executive producers for Eagle Eye Drama are Jo McGrath and Walter Iuzzolino. The series is co-written with Matthew Sweet and will be directed by Carolina Giammetta (Suspect S2, Hollington Drive) and produced by Christopher Arcache (Hotel Portofino).

The series is being produced in association with Happy Duck Films and is supported by the Belgian Tax Shelter. Bookish will air on Alibi in 2025.

For more information, please contact:Kelly Phelps, Publicity Manager, UKTV

Notes for Editors:

About Alibi

Sky 109/826, Virgin 126/200, BT 312/382, TalkTalk 312, TV Player

On demand on Sky, Virgin, BT and TalkTalk

Alibi is the only TV channel dedicated to crime drama, investigating the best selection from the genre and premiering hit series from around the world such as CSI: Vegas, So Help Me Todd, Dark Winds and Black Sands.

Alibi's offering of UKTV Original crime drama series give viewers guaranteed thrills, twists and turns through hit shows including Annika, starring Nicola Walker, Traces, starring Molly Windsor and Martin Compston and We Hunt Together, starring Eve Myles and Babou Ceesay. Sophie Rundle also leads the cast in Barcelona-set drama, The Diplomat, while Anjli Monindra, Marc Warren and Adjoa Andoh star in the brand-new series from writer Toby Whithouse, The Red King.

Alibi is also home to fan favourites, Miss Scarlet and the Duke, Murdoch Mysteries and Hudson and Rex, and gives viewers another chance to catch hugely popular British crime dramas including Death in Paradise, Father Brown and Silent Witness.

About UKTV

UKTV has been at the forefront of branded television for over 30 years, entertaining the nation with programmes they love. Its leading brands - U&Dave, U&DRAMA, U&W, U&YESTERDAY, Gold, Alibi and Eden - span comedy, entertainment, natural history, factual and drama, and are delivered to UK viewers through free streaming service U, Sky, Virgin Media, NOW, Freeview, Freesat and Freely; and to Irish viewers through Sky, Virgin Media, Eir, Vodafone and NOW. Channel & content availability varies by platform. UKTV's content is also available to UK viewers via dedicated FAST channels on Samsung TV Plus, Amazon Freevee, Pluto TV and Virgin Media.UKTV is a significant investor in British creativity and is committed to working with new and established writers, directors and programme-makers. The broadcaster is part of BBC Studios, the UKs most-awarded production company, a world-class distributor with international branded services, and a commercial subsidiary of the worlds leading public service broadcaster, the BBC.

corporate.uktv.co.uk | press.uktv.co.uk | @uktvpress

About EAGLE EYE DRAMA

Eagle Eye Drama was formed by Walter Iuzzolino, Jo McGrath and Jason Thorp, the same three founders and creative team behind the global drama company Walter Presents. The company produces dramas and animations, based both on adaptations and original ideas. In 2022, Eagle Eye launched new Belgian based company Happy Duck Films.

Follow Eagle Eye Drama on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram

About BETA FILM

Owned by Jan Mojto since 2004, Beta Film produces, finances and distributes high-end entertainment content for the global market utilizing extensive connections and a deep knowledge of the media industry. It draws on both long-standing and new partnerships spanning public and private broadcasters, streaming platforms and special interest channels, production companies, theatrical and video distributors, and organizers of major film and TV festivals. Founded in 1959 by Leo Kirch, Beta Film is based in Munich, Germany with bureaus in the US, Latin America, Middle East, China and throughout Europe.

Follow Beta Film on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram
LINK: https://corporate.uktv.co.uk/newsroom/paul-mcgann-tim-mcinnerny-and-ma...
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 ...

04/08/2026

Dalet Announces Commercial Availability of Dalia, Bringing Media-Aware Agentic AI to Enterprise Productions

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

04/07/2026

Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in Dolby Cinemas Across Japan, Presented in Dolby Atmos and Dolby ...

April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...

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...

02/05/2026

Dalet Flex LTS Delivers Smarter Search, Faster Editing, and an AI-Ready Foundation for Modern Media

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

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 ...

09/04/2026

PBS' The Forsytes' Puts a Glamorous New Spin on the Beloved Family Drama as the series premieres in the US.

Based on John Galsworthy's novels known collectively as The Forsyte Saga a...

09/04/2026

The Forsytes' Renewed For Season 3 At PBS Masterpiece

The Forsytes has been renewed for a third season before the period drama has even premiered on PBS Masterpiece. The adaptation of John Galsworthy's novel, ...

09/04/2026

BBC brings Danny Robins The Witch Farm to the screen Inspired by the hit podcast of the same name, filming begins soon

IThe BBC has commissioned new drama The Witch Farm, starring Gabrielle Creevy (T...

09/04/2026

NAB 2026 Major Announcement

The next big thing To help broadcasters fully embrace dynamic hybrid workflows, Calrec will make a major announcement that unlocks even more freedom for broadca...

09/04/2026

ENCO to Showcase New aiTrack Capabilities at 2026 NAB Show

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

09/04/2026

LTN Unveils Network Enhancements in Advance of C-Band Changes

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

09/04/2026

FOR-A Buys Tamura Corp. Information Equipment Business

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

09/04/2026

Imagine Showcases Expanded Multiviewer Portfolio at 2026...

Purpose Built Monitoring From Live Production to Master Control to OTT, Across On Prem and Cloud Environments At the 2026 NAB Show (April 19-22, Las Vegas Con...

09/04/2026

Harmonic Extends Hybrid Streaming Leadership with AI and...

Purpose Built Monitoring From Live Production to Master Control to OTT, Across On Prem and Cloud Environments At the 2026 NAB Show (April 19-22, Las Vegas Con...

09/04/2026

LTN unveils network enhancements as broadcaster satellite...

New advances meet surge in demand for broadcast-grade IP migration as C-band spectrum auctions approach LTN announces major enhancements to its purpose-built g...

09/04/2026

Hitomi Broadcast Expands Sales Team with Nicola Milburn

Hitomi Broadcast has expanded its sales team with the addition of Nicola Milburn as Technical Sales Manager. In this role, Nicola will work with customers and p...

09/04/2026

Layercake and Ceeblue Announce Strategic Integration to D...

Revolutionary combined solution brings sub-second latency, resilient delivery, and workflow orchestration to global broadcasters and digital platforms Layercak...

09/04/2026

BIA Increases 2026 Local Ad Forecast to $184.5 Billion

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

09/04/2026

Yospace surpasses 10 billion ads stitched in a single mon...

Yospace exceeded 10 billion dynamically stitched ads in a single month, reaching 11.6 billion as ad-supported streaming surged. Driven by a packed global sports...

09/04/2026

Bitmovin Expands Live Encoding and Observability Solution...

Bitmovin has expanded its Live Encoding and Observability solutions to provide true end to end, real time insights across live streaming workflows, from encodin...

09/04/2026

Leyra Powers the Launch of Icelandic Broadcaster RUVs Str...

Leyra has announced the launch of Icelandic public broadcaster R V's streaming service on Samsung and LG Smart TVs. R V is the first public broadcaster to d...

09/04/2026

3Play Media Launches AI Dubbing Solution for YouTube Crea...

3Play Media, a global leader in video accessibility and localization, today announced an AI Dubbing solution purpose-built for YouTube creators. The company, wh...

09/04/2026

Big Blue Marble Recognized as AWS Managed Services Provid...

Big Blue Marble, a provider of broadcast-grade, cloud-native video solutions, has been recognized as an Amazon Web Services (AWS) Managed Services Provider (MSP...

09/04/2026

PDC Cleeng and Urban Zoo partner to launch new global str...

The Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) has officially launched its revamped global streaming service, PDC TV, in collaboration with Cleeng and sports technolo...

09/04/2026

Cleeng launches industry first cross-platform AI agents t...

Cleeng, the Subscriber Retention Management (SRM ) pioneer, today announced a raft of new AI agents for its AI Assistant to accelerate decision-making and autom...

09/04/2026

Hearst Taps Merzigo to Expand Presence on YouTube, Facebook

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

09/04/2026

Fox Jumps Into Prediction Markets with Kalshi Integration

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

09/04/2026

NAB Show: Kokusai Denki To Feature New, Affordable 4K Broadcast Camera

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

09/04/2026

Corus Taps Appear for IP-First Operations

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

09/04/2026

2026 NAB Show Exhibitor Insights: Big Blue Marble

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

09/04/2026

FCC Extends Audible Crawl Rule Waiver for 18 Months

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

09/04/2026

Pliant Technologies Showcases Expanded Accessories at NAB...

New Charging, Connectivity, and Mounting Solutions Now Available LAS VEGAS, APRIL 8, 2026 Pliant Technologies will highlight a range of new accessories at th...

09/04/2026

Media Links Brings Ultra Resilient IP Transport Proven at...

As live production continues its shift to IP, the challenge is no longer adoption it's reliability. At NAB Show 2026 (Booth W2033), Media Links will demon...

09/04/2026

QuickLink Launches StudioPro Town Hall at 2026 NAB Show

QuickLink, a leading provider of award-winning video production and remote guest contribution solutions, launches its new AI-powered add-on for its StudioPro p...

09/04/2026

The Hive Group Releases White Paper on the FCC Upper C-Ba...

The Hive Group has published a new white paper, No Safe Harbor: Why the FCC's Upper C-Band Auction Demands Early Action from Broadcasters ahead of NAB Sho...

09/04/2026

Saranyu Technologies Renews VisualOn Optimizer VoD Subscr...

Saranyu Technologies today announced the renewal of its Optimizer VoD subscription with VisualOn. The announcement coincides with NAB Show 2026, taking place Ap...

09/04/2026

ATSC 3.0: Measuring Multilanguage Programs

The ATSC 3.0 standard , released on July 17, 2025, defines a comprehensive set of requirements for terrestrial next-generation TV broadcasting. Let's dive ...

09/04/2026

Love, Sacrifice and Vengeance Collide in My Dearest Assassin' Main Trailer, Out May 7

Back to All News Love, Sacrifice and Vengeance Collide in My Dearest Assassin&...

09/04/2026

Netflix Drops the Gripping Trailer for The Chestnut Man: Hide and Seek'

Back to All News Netflix Drops the Gripping Trailer for The Chestnut Man: Hide and Seek' Entertainment 09 April 2026 GlobalDenmarkFinlandNorwaySweden ...

09/04/2026

'The Marked Woman' premieres on Netflix on June 5

Back to All News The Marked Woman premieres on Netflix on June 5 Entertainment 09 April 2026 GlobalSpain Link copied to clipboard Download the first image...

09/04/2026

Netflix Animation Studios Opens Its New Home in Vancouver

Back to All News Netflix Animation Studios Opens Its New Home in Vancouver Netflix Animation Studios Vancouver ribbon-cutting ceremony (L-R) Vancouver Deputy ...

09/04/2026

Harmonic Extends Hybrid Streaming Leadership with AI and Cloud Innovations

Enhancements Including MCP Connectivity, Intelligent Video Asset Orchestration and Red Hat OpenShift Deployment Transform Hybrid Video Streaming SAN JOSE, Calif...

09/04/2026

Announcement: FOR-A Acquires Tamura Corporations Information Equipment Business and Manufacturing Arm

New Company, Tamu Radiance, Combines FOR-As Video Expertise and Tamuras Audio an...

09/04/2026

Own a 3rd or 4th Gen Scarlett interface? Download Cubase LE for free

Own a 3rd or 4th Gen Scarlett interface? Download Cubase LE for free We're adding a new DAW to your collection here's what's included, and how t...

09/04/2026

Launch partner for new audio streaming platform

Multi-year agreement enables Nation Radio to scale audiences, strengthen digital delivery and unlock new commercial opportunities 09 April 2026 - London, UK - ...

09/04/2026

Brian Fenton Joins RT Sunday Game GAA Panel for 2026 Championship

RT Sport has announced Brian Fenton will join its Sunday Game GAA punditry panel for the 2026 Championship, featuring across video, audio, online including the...

09/04/2026

Time for some fresh air: Tracks & Trails is back

Doireann N Ghlac in returns as presenter, with the first episode airing this Friday at 8.30pm on RT One and RT Player The beloved walking series Tracks & T...

09/04/2026

Strength and Destiny Collide: Samson: A Tyndalston Story' Arrives in the Cloud

A timeless story of grit, faith and rebellion takes center stage as Samson: A Ty...

09/04/2026

April 08, 2026

New technique for synthesizing branched molecules could accelerate the development of future medicines Scripps Research chemists solve a longstanding problem in...