Yahoo Lifestyle BBC Studios Lands UK Hit ‘The Jetty’ at Hulu and BritBox; Touts This Year’s Success of ‘Baby Reindeer,’ ‘Ghosts,’ ‘Bluey’ And More (EXCLUSIVE)
Hit U.K. crime drama “The Jetty” is finally making its way across the pond. As the result of some unique dealmaking by BBC Studios, “The Jetty” will be shared by two platforms — BritBox and Hulu — as it launches in the U.S. on Dec. 13.
BBC Studios holds global distribution rights on ‘The Jetty,” which premiered on BBC One and streamed on BBC iPlayer in July. The four episode series, from showrunner Cat Jones, stars Jenna Coleman (“Doctor Who,” “The Sandman”) as Detective Ember Manning, whose investigation into an abused teenager sets her onto a cold case relating to another missing teen, Amy Knightly, who disappeared some decades earlier. It’s a case Ember soon realizes she has an intimate connection to.
More from Variety
'Veep' Creator Armando Iannucci Launches Production Company, Strikes Deal With BBC Studios
AMC Networks Acquires Full Control of BBC America for $42 Million
Comedians in Court as U.K. Trial Kicks Off Over Sitcom 'Copied' by Steve Coogan's Production Company
“When you’re looking at a show that was the number one drama on the BBC in the UK this year, ‘The Jetty,’ to then see it on BritBox is not a surprise,” said Janet Brown, BBC Studios’ president of global content sales. “And you wouldn’t be surprised if you’d seen it on Hulu instead. I think what’s interesting is that in this market now, and with the great relationships that we have, is that we’re able to bring it to both of them. It is the case of really prioritizing which content we think is going to work for which buyer.”
“The Jetty” is one of several BBC Studios shows hitting the U.S. in the coming months. The BBC One comedy “Black Ops,” which premiered in 2023, will drop on Hulu in early 2025, while “Outrageous” (a co-production with UKTV), based on the Mary Lovell bio “The Mitford Girls,” comes to BritBox in 2025.
Also launching on BritBox next year: “Douglas is Cancelled,” the Steven Moffat comedy starring Hugh Bonneville that aired on ITV1 this past summer.
BritBox is BBC Studios’ owned-and-operated outlet in the U.S., particularly now that it has sold the remainder of its stake in BBC America to AMC. But as “The Jetty” dual exclusivity deal showed, Brown said she remained committed to working with all sorts of partners in the U.S.
“We’re getting interesting and novel deal structures,” she said. “In times like this, it’s a great time to be coming with new and different ideas… When we’re looking at what the right route to market is, we are absolutely weighing whether it’s our own O&O or a third party — or, in the case of ‘The Jetty,’ both. We’re also leaning into the concept of windowing, where you’re able to share a piece of content on different platforms and have it have a different moment,
“I feel like in this market, if we make the right match and we find the right partner for this show, we are going to be with someone who’s equally invested in the success,” she added. “And if that leads into a franchise that’s going to return, then everyone wins.”
Brown recently took on her new remit overseeing content sales across all regions last month, as BBC Studios streamlined its global operations via the launch of a new global content sales unit. For Brown, that gives her a lot to play with.
BBC Studios is behind broadcast network hits like CBS’ “Ghosts” (a co-production with Lionsgate) and ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars.” It has the kids’ streaming smash “Bluey” in its arsenal. The long-running “Doctor Who” franchise is in its catalog. And most recently, Netflix’s hit “A Good Girls Guide to Murder” — which just landed a Season 2.
Its labels include Clerkenwell Films, which was behind the Netflix phenom “Baby Reindeer.” And BBC Studios’ nature programming includes “Planet Earth III” and the upcoming NBC entry “The Americas.”
“The BBC has this regular ability to create content that appeals far beyond the boundaries of the UK,” Brown said. “Look at ‘Doctor Who,’ which is 50 years old, or something like ‘The Office,’ which we’ve just done ‘The Office Australia.’ Whether it’s something in the water the British creative community has, the hit rate is just fantastic for the kind of content that does have the potential to travel the world. We have ‘Good Girls Guide,’ which has just been No. 1 in 80 countries. ‘Bluey’ has been a global phenomenon. Our job in terms of global sales is to recognize when we have one of those and to find the right partner that will truly help it reach the broadest audience.”
Among other upcoming projects, Clerkenwell recently premiered its 18-episode shortform series “Cheaters” on CBC, and is prepping a Season 2 for BBC One. BBC Studios is also shopping its Clerkenwell thriller “Truelove,” which premiered on Channel 4 earlier this year, as well as the BBC Three surreal comedy “Juice” and the BBC One thriller “Reunion.”
Despite the recent budgetary pullback by networks and streamers, Brown said she’s bullish on the wide range of fare that BBC Studios is shopping around the world.
“We’re seeing buyers having a little bit of a narrowing lens in terms of which content they’re going to be prioritizing with their increasingly tight content budgets,” she said. “We are actually able to lean into that simply by the fact that we’re working with BBC content. Being rooted in the public broadcaster piece of it, our very entity means that we have created something for everyone in the UK. As the BBC, we’re creating content for kids, for older audiences, for men, women, for people living all over the place. That gives BBC Studios such a range that we’re able to choose from.
“When we’re facing a market of buyers with increasingly tight lenses, it’s almost not a problem,” she added. “It’s an opportunity to be able to showcase this complete breadth of content, because we’re able to prioritize and match which stuff is going to work for people’s priorities. Our portfolio was kind of made for this market moment.”
Best of Variety
Sign up for Variety's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
