Welcome to our selection of the most scorching titles headed to MIPCOM this year, The Deadline Dozen. Our editorial team has carefully researched and selected the projects we expect to drive the chatter on the Croisette and beyond.

Day two of our Deadline Dozen brings scripted. For the best unscripted fare, click here.

BAYWATCH

FREMANTLE

Length: 12 x 60’

Producers: Fremantle, Fox Entertainment

Networks: Fox (U.S.), Prime Video (various)

It’s back, and it’s lighting up the beaches of Cannes this MIPCOM. One of the most iconic series of all time — conjuring up those famous images of David Hasselhoff and his fellow lifeguards running along sunshine-soaked shores — is being remade and shopped to buyers this fall.

Baywatch is, of course, the globally recognizable show about lifeguards patrolling the beaches of LA and Hawaii, which three decades ago made heroes of its stars and creators. After nearly 250 episodes across 11 seasons, Baywatch gave the world the likes of Hasselhoff, Pamela Anderson and Alexandra Paul.

The revamped Baywatch promises unmistakable red swimsuits and an all-new cast of lifeguards, who will continue to patrol the world’s most famous stretch of sand, delivering high stakes rescues, explosive drama and plenty of beachside heat. The ensemble cast includes Stephen Amell in the lead role of Hobie Buchannon, alongside Jessica Belkin as Charlie Vale, Shay Mitchell as Trina, Hassie Harrison as Nat, Thaddeus LaGrone as Brad, Noah Beck as Luke, and Brooks Nader as Selene.

The Fox reboot is being showrun by Matt Nix (Burn Notice),while many of the original creators are back to EP, including Michael Berk, Greg Bonann and Doug Schwartz, alongside new EPs Dante Di Loreto and Mike Horowitz. McG is also exec producing and will direct the series premiere episode.

Fox holds domestic rights, while Fremantle is hoping this one will make waves abroad, having already sold to a number of key Prime Video territories. Expect billboards galore in Cannes. This one is sure to make a splash.

THE INTERROGATOR

LIONSGATE

Length: 12 x 60’

Producers: Lionsgate Television, Fox Entertainment Studios

Network: Fox (U.S.)

What’s not to like about this one? A U.S. crime-of-the-week story from the mind of Stephen Fry, and with the likes of Jenna Elfman and Michael Beach in starring roles.

The Interrogator centers on former MI6 agent Conrad Henry and his team of outsider geniuses, who are brought in to solve cases after conventional policing and security hasn’t worked. Fry — considered a polymath for his abilities to act, write, orate and present — plays Henry, whose quirky charm, superior intellect and mind-bending behavioral maneuvers mean he can unpick the minds of world’s most dangerous criminals.

Fry is no stranger to Fox, having acted in Hart Hanson’s drama Bones, and he writes The Interrogator with William Harper and Matt Pyken attached. Input from Fire Country’s Harper was also key to securing the straight-to-series order back in February, and the series is now heading for the 2026/27 broadcast U.S. season with The Lost Symbol writer-producers Dan Dworkin and Jay Beattie on board as showrunners.

Appearing alongside Fry are Elfman, Beach, Jessica Sula, Maria Zhang and Luke Kleintank, the latter of whom also acted in Bones, though his time on that show did not overlap with Fry. Kleintank plays Voss, a former Special Forces operative and army whistleblower with the strong moral code who becomes a member of Conrad’s team of advisors. Zhang plays optimistic puzzle master Florence, and Sula is Conrad’s estranged daughter and criminal psychologist Astrid. Beach is a jack-of-all-trades AV and IT expert and also best friend to Conrad, while Elfman plays his handler and boss Woodrow.

Though Fox has made it a policy to have more ownership of its originals, Lionsgate is shopping the show at MIPCOM. There’s potential for this one to sell well, given the popularity of hits like Ludwig, the BBC drama that stars British actor David Mitchell (who, like Fry, was a member of student sketch group the Cambridge Footlights) as a genius puzzle solver who helps police.

SHAKA ILEMBE

STUDIOCANAL

Length: 24 x 60’ (Two seasons of 12 episodes)

Producer: Bomb Productions

Network: MultiChoice (pan-Africa)

This time last year, Deadline profiled Shaka iLembe, the South African-shot story of King Shaka, the famous pre-colonial era Zulu ruler. Despite the show breaking viewing records on MultiChoice, no distributor had acquired the rights, and director Angus Gibson even told us that a U.S. network exec had loved a screener but nevertheless refused to believe audiences would follow a Zulu-language title. “We need some courageous broadcasters over there,” he said.

Since that interview, France’s Canal+ acquired MultiChoice and significantly restructured the business. Part of that process has seen MultiChoice titles join the catalog of Canal+ producer-distributor StudioCanal.

Ahead of the third and final season of Shaka iLembe, which is due to debut on Mzansi Magic, a network that’s part of MultiChoice’s M-Net, in Africa, StudioCanal will debut the first two seasons to international buyers as a key MIPCOM launch.

The show, set in the 18^th and 19th centuries, stars Lemogang Tsipa as Shaka, a king in southeastern Africa’s Nguni Kingdoms. It traces his rise from boyhood, through the founding of the Zulu nation, and to his life as a legendary battlefield strategist and a visionary leader who shaped the course of African history. Starring alongside Tsipa are Nomzamo Mbatha, Wiseman Mncube, Dawn Thandeka King, Sthandiwe Kgoroge, Mondli Makhoba and Mpilo Mbatha.

Season 3 will round out the story, and buyers will be able to communicate interest to StudioCanal sales folk on the ground in Cannes, as they also negotiate deals for the first two runs.

StudioCanal will no doubt be flagging that Shaka iLembe, told in the isiZulu language, is the most-awarded show in the history of the South African Film & Television Awards, and is a big ratings hit.

The European sales house has also been keen to frame the series as “what can be achieved when Africa’s most consequential history gets the epic, cinematic treatment and care it deserves,” and compares it to other epic series such as Shōgun and Game of Thrones.

THE DEATH OF SHERLOCK HOLMES

SPHERE ABACUS

Length: 6 x 60’

Producer: Silver Reel

Networks: Sky, SRF (Switzerland), ARD Degeto (Germany)

U.K.-based distributor Sphere Abacus, known best for selling Heated Rivalry, is changing up the pace with The Death of Sherlock Holmes. The show, which is among Sphere Abacus’ big MIPCOM market launches, stars Rafe Spall as the world’s most famous detective, and begins with one of his most iconic moments: The apparent death of Holmes at the hands of arch nemesis Professor Moriarty at the Reichenbach Falls.

Here’s where the twist comes in: While the world assumes he has perished, the show reveals what happens in the three years between his disappearance in 1891 and return in 1894. Sherlock Holmes writer Arthur Conan Doyle left this period untouched, which gives The Death of Sherlock Holmes showrunners Claudia Bluemhuber and Pierre Monnard plenty of space to flex their creative muscles. Same goes for writers André Küttel and Simone Schmid.

Bluemhuber from Switzerland-based Silver Reel created the show alongside Küttel and Monnard on the back of International Emmy-winning fantasy show Fallen. She set up a co-production that includes Sky and SRF in Switzerland, Germany’s ARD Degeto and the Bell Media-owned Sphere Abacus. The series will broadcast on Sky in the U.K. and Ireland and also goes out on Sky in Switzerland and Germany. FFF Bayern from Germany and Italy’s IDM Film Commission are supporting the series.

A 2027 launch date is planned as Trying star Spall’s next leading role. Starring alongside him is Deleila Piasko, a Swiss actress best known for her role in Netflix’s World War II drama Transatlantic.

The story is set against the backdrop of the Swiss Alps, as Holmes is found barely alive in the ice. A local woman, Alma (Piasko) and her son find him. Soon the village doctor is found murdered and the townsfolk turn on the boy, leaving the stranger as his only hope. Though Holmes remembers nothing, flashes of his razor-sharp skills of deduction begin to show.

MAYA

BANIJAY RIGHTS

Length: 6 x 60’

Producer: Two Brothers Pictures

Networks: Channel 4 (U.K.), Starz (U.S.)

Maya is notable for bringing together two of the U.K.’s top talents: Daisy Haggard and Bella Ramsey, and networks from Britain and the U.S. in the shape of Channel 4 and Starz.

The series follows devoted single mother Anna (Haggard) and her headstrong teenage daughter Maya (Ramsey), as they are forced into witness protection to escape danger. Leaving London behind, they move to a small rural town in Scotland, intent on leaving the trauma behind, but a pair of hitmen are determined to track them down. It’s a claustrophobic plot that gives Haggard and Ramsey space to show off their acting chops.

Haggard is the creator and also makes her directorial debut alongside Jamie Donoughue (Doctor Who). She’s known for the BAFTA-nominated Back to Life, which she starred in and co-wrote with Laura Solon. The actress and writer has a long connection with Maya producer Two Brothers Pictures, stretching back to 2019 with Back to Life and then with 2023’s Boat Story, and she worked with Ramsey on Netflix animation Hilda.

Ramsey is one of TV’s hottest actors right now, with previous roles including the fiery Lyanna Mormont in Game of Thrones, survivalist Ellie in The Last of Us and drug addict Kelsey in Time. This year, they starred in George Jaques’ Sunny Dancer, about a teenage cancer survivor sent to a ‘chemo camp’, which premiered at the Berlinale. They reprise their role in HBO’s The Last of Us next year.

For Fleabag and The Tourist producer Two Brothers, the show is the first hitting the international market since its parent, All3Media, was acquired by Banijay. All3Media International has since been wound down as a brand and Banijay Rights will be shopping Maya in France this year.

ALIBI

YES STUDIOS

Length: 7 x 15’

Producer: Plus6Four Entertainment

Network: TVNZ (New Zealand)

Easily one of the more unusual scripted formats hitting the market this year is Alibi, a short-form crime drama out of New Zealand. Despite its short episode length, the show is designed for streaming services and even TV networks, but not microdrama platforms, having been created before the vertical video craze took off.

The show is being billed as a “non-linear murder mystery”. The first six episodes can be watched in any order before the truth is revealed in the seventh and final one. Set in a small fictional town called Awatahi, the show explores the murder of 17-year-old Jodie Hunter. Each of the six main suspects get their chance to give their version of events on the day of Jodie’s death, effectively supplying their own alibis.

Given the shape of the show, Israel’s Yes Studios will be shopping both the finished tape and format, with show co-creator David de Latour saying it “holds the potential to translate perfectly to different locations around the world”.

“Episodes can be joined together for a range of more traditional slots, while digital and VOD platforms could create a real buzz about the audience’s ability to watch episodes in any order they choose,” says Sharon Levi, Yes Studios’ managing director.

De Latour made the show alongside Gareth Williams and Hannah Marshall, the latter of whom is the co-creator of the Kiwi drama Ms. X. Marshall and de Latour are the directors, and the cast includes Madeleine Adams (Shortland Street), Joel Tobeck (Avatar: Fire and Ice), Xavier Horan (Shortland Street) and Melanie Vallejo (All Her Fault).

For Yes, which is the sales arm of Israeli network Yes TV, representing the rights marks a move in third-party distribution. To date, it has primarily sold Yes shows such as Fauda, Shtisel and Your Honor.

Yes has experience in scripted format sales, earlier this year selling Israeli comedy drama Significant Other to Babylone Hills Productions and Screenline Productions to make a French version. It had already been made for ITV in 2022.

Though most of the headlines about shortform content have been about vertical video and microdrama, buyers could be taken by the unique nature of the format. Alibi was made back in 2021, but five years later comes the chance for the international market to find out whodunnit.

HIGH VALLEY