BBC acquires UK rights to Fremantle Media’s Picnic at Hanging Rock
BBC has secured the rights to Fremantle Media’s Picnic at Hanging Rock.
The announcement:
Picnic at Hanging Rock continues to grow its’s international audience with the announcement that the BBC has acquired the UK rights for FremantleMedia Australia’s re-imagining of Joan Lindsay’s iconic novel.
Picnic at Hanging Rock will have its world premiere on Foxtel in Australia in 2018. This event drama has a growing list of prestigious broadcast partners around the world. The announcement of the BBC as the UK home follows announcements for Amazon Prime Video in the US and Canal+ in France.
Picnic at Hanging Rock is a FremantleMedia Australia production for Foxtel, made with key production investment from Screen Australia. The series was shot in Victoria, Australia, with the significant assistance of the Victorian Government through Film Victoria.
Jo Porter, FremantleMedia Australia Director of Drama & Picnic at Hanging Rock Executive Producer, said “The BBC is internationally renowned for its prestigious drama content. We are delighted the enchanted, chilling world of Picnic at Hanging Rock has found its home in the UK with them. We are incredibly proud to be taking this uniquely Australian production to an international audience. Britain’s Natalie Dormer is mesmerising in the lead role as the enigmatic school principal Hester Appleyard. She is supported by an incredible line up of leading Australia performers and the next generation of exciting actors including Lily Sullivan, Samara Weaving, Madeleine Madden and Ruby Rees.”
Brian Walsh, Foxtel’s Executive Director Television, said: “We are delighted that this landmark drama series for Foxtel will be seen on the world stage. This announcement with our partners at the BBC is a further testament to the incredible work of everyone involved in the program, both in front and behind the camera. We are confident that Picnic At Hanging Rock will add another page to Foxtel’s hugely successful drama story. It is a cinematic, masterful piece of television and the outstanding cast of incredible young and established local actors and the international cast led by Natalie Dormer bring to life a new interpretation of the classic Australian story.”
Sue Deeks, BBC Head of Programme Acquisition says: “It is with great pleasure that we confirm the BBC as the UK home for this new, fresh take on Picnic at Hanging Rock. The combination of creative team and cast – led by one of Britain’s most exciting actors Natalie Dormer – will make for a must see series for both fans of the classic novel and those coming to this wonderful story for the first time.”
Jamie Lynn, EVP, Head of Sales and Distribution, EMEA for FremantleMedia International said: “With its globally renowned reputation for quality and the opportunity for this groundbreaking series reach a deservedly wide UK audience, we are very excited to partner with the BBC for Picnic at Hanging Rock. This reimagining of the classic Joan Lindsay novel is modern, mysterious, completely gripping and visually spectacular. We’re confident it will have real impact with viewers and is sure be one 2018’s most talked about shows.”
Picnic at Hanging Rock is a FremantleMedia Australia production for Foxtel. Executive producers are FremantleMedia Australia’s Jo Porter and Anthony Ellis and Foxtel’s Penny Win, script producer and establishing writer is Beatrix Christian, writer Alice Addison, producer Brett Popplewell, directors are Larysa Kondracki, Michael Rymer and Amanda Brotchie.
Source: FremantleMedia
