Peter Capaldi stars in ‘Doctor Who’
BBC
movies
‘Doctor Who’ Bids Revealed: Producers Pitch To Regenerate Sci-Fi Show
EXCLUSIVE: Could Jed Mercurio be about to take control of the TARDIS?
Deadline can reveal that the Line of Duty showrunner is spearheading a bid to produce Doctor Who after the BBC launched a competitive tender, a bake-off-style process in which producers have put forward plans to regenerate the iconic sci-fi series.
We are told Hat Trick Mercurio (HTM), the production company Mercurio runs with Hat Trick founder Jimmy Mulville, has submitted a proposal with Mercurio attached as an executive producer. Mercurio is a sci-fi fan and created BBC series Invasion: Earth in the 1990s. He has since become one of the nation’s pre-eminent TV scribes, with credits including Bodyguard and Cardiac Arrest. HTM declined comment.
HTM is one of several production outfits bidding for Doctor Who. Line of Duty producer World Productions has submitted separate plans to reimagine the Time Lord after CEO Simon Heath recently mooted his interest in the Doctor Who tender. Sources said that World is effectively spearheading ITV Studios’ efforts to land the contract. World Productions declined comment.
Or could the TARDIS soon be spinning its way to Scotland?
Deadline is told STV Studios, the production group behind Blue Lights and Criminal Record, has made an audacious bid to move the show north of the English border for Season 17. Deadline understands that the company has teamed up with Screen Scotland to table the proposal. STV Studios declined comment.
We previously revealed that two different BBC Studios labels will likely table bids to make Doctor Who, with scripted boss Jamie Hall animatedly saying the entire BBC group should “reap the rewards” of the iconic sci-fi series. He told Deadline last week “there is an opportunity to get back to what the core offering was” during the era of Matt Smith and David Tennant.
The deadline for Doctor Who submissions was last Friday, meaning the BBC is now considering competing visions for the show, which requires a dramatic refresh after showrunner Russell T Davies and producer Bad Wolf abandoned ship.
A Scotland bid is intriguing. The BBC has stipulated that Doctor Who must be made outside of London after Wales served as the show’s home for many years. The BBC came in for some criticism last year for axing long-running Scottish soap River City, although it is worth noting that at the time it said it would spend £100M ($132.3M) on drama in the nation over the next three years.
STV Studios also has a connection to the Whoniverse: Peter Capaldi, who played the Time Lord for three years, stars in Criminal Record, the Apple TV series produced by his wife, Elaine Collins, who runs STV-backed Tod Productions.
Deadline’s list of bidders is by no means exhaustive and other interested parties may yet emerge. There is speculation, for example, of a second Scottish bid with a well-known native actor thought to be interested in picking up the Sonic Screwdriver. The previous Doctor, Ncuti Gatwa, was brought up in Scotland.
Deadline has established that several top producers have declined to throw their hat into the ring, with many citing concerns about the lack of rights and the production contract sucking creative energy away from other projects. Among those not bidding are A24 UK, Playground, Mammoth Screen, New Pictures, Big Talk Studios, Expectation and Quay Street.
“Anyone with a pulse knows it will go to BBC Studios,” was the view of one producer. Another seasoned production chief added: “If Jane Tranter and Russell T Davies can’t make sense of that show, then who can and who wants to? It feels like a thankless task.”
In a document inviting submissions (see it here), the BBC said producers should detail a vision for Doctor Who that can return to screens in 2028-29 — as predicted by Deadline — and ensures the series remains “relevant, surprising, brave and inspiring for both long-standing fans and new audiences.” Interviews with bidders will take place in January, with the BBC awarding a contract in March.
The BBC was not prescriptive about budgets but invited producers to propose “third-party investment.” This has raised eyebrows among some producers, who would have liked more detail on the BBC’s funding expectations for the series.
The BBC declined to comment.
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EXCLUSIVE: This time last year, India‘s Abundantia Entertainment launched an AI production division named Abundantia AiOn. Today, we can reveal that is morphing into a fully standalone native AI studio that will seek harness in an influx of ideas from non-traditional sources.
“AiOn will develop its own stories, create its own content, produce fully generated as well as hybrid work, and manage the entire ecosystem, just as Abundantia does as a standalone studio,” Vikram Malhotra, Abundantia’s founder and CEO told Deadline during an exclusive interview.
Malhotra will remain in charge of AiOn for the time being. “For the moment, it will sit within Abundantia, but we are building it in a way that gives it its own identity and scope,” he said.
“Workflows have become hybrid, and production and creative thinking are becoming hybrid. The capability needed to run AI at studio level will not be found solely within the conventional media and entertainment system. It is truly a confluence of technology and art.”
Malhotra said the move had been taken after receiving “three times as many pitches from people who have never written, made films or belonged to the conventional filmmaking ecosystem as I have in the past” over the last six months.
He cited the rise of directors such as Obsession‘s Curry Barker and Backrooms‘ Kane Parsons as evidence of a “democratization” of ideas that would be powered by AI studios in the future.
“AiOn defines itself as human-first and AI-empowered, and I’m seeing that happen in front of my eyes in real time,” he added.
Earlier in the year, Abundantia announced another AI studio initiative, teaming with AI video tech company InVideo to launch a film studio, which will develop a slate of five films over the next few years. That company is also teaming with Abundantia aiOn.
Malhotra, one of India’s most experienced execs and producers, launched Abundantia back in 2013 after exiting a role as COO of Viacom18 Motion Pictures and a shorter spell leading Balaji Motion Pictures. The company has since made films such as Baby, Airlift, Toilet – Ek Prem Katha, Shakuntala Devi, Sherni, and Chhorii and Chhorii 2. On the series from, it produced Prime Video’s Breathe.
This year has seen the launch of Netflix films Maa Behen and a movie and series for Prime Video, Subedaar and Daldal, respectively. The former is an action drama directed by Suresh Triveni and fronted by Anil Kapoor; and the latter an original drama series starring Bhumi Pednekar.
Maa Behen, a Hindi-language black comedy starring Madhuri Dixit and Triptii Dimri among others, was well received on Netflix. It became the #1 trending film on Netflix India in the week of its release in June and rose to #2 in global non-English films.
Subedaar, meanwhile, was notable for being Anil Kapoor’s first action movie since S. Shankar’s Nayak: A Real Hero, which was released in 2001. Malhotra addressed how he tempted the actor back to the genre (clue: It wasn’t a hard sell) and gave his assessment of the Indian production as we look ahead to 2027 and beyond.
DEADLINE: There’s a lot of interesting work going on at Abundantia right now. How has the year been so far?
Vikram Malhotra: It’s been an exciting year. We completed 13 years on the 26th of this month, and in many ways this year has been the manifestation of the 12 years that came before it – and hopefully a sign of things to come. The last nine months have been exciting for us on all fronts.
DEADLINE: What has happened that really punctuates that progress?
Malhotra: When I started building Abundantia in 2013, the fundamental gap I had identified throughout my time in the business, including at Viacom18 and Balaji, was that the supply of high-quality, progressive content for a younger, more evolved audience wasn’t meeting demand.
Abundantia was formed and built with studio economics in mind, rather than project economics. I was always focused on building an institution, rather than approaching the business on a project-by-project basis, which is often the short-sighted way demand or opportunity is evaluated in this market.
If we use 2026 as a symbol of that approach, the year has included three releases: One film on Prime Video, one series on Prime Video and one film on Netflix. We also have theatrical work lined up, more projects with those two streamers and a number of things in development. The founding philosophy remains the same: Put the customer at the heart of the business, let creativity drive the velocity of the business and continue disrupting the kinds of stories you tell.
Whittock: One of the major strategic moves you have made is into AI, including the deal with InVideo in February and your AI studio. There is a lot of discussion around AI, and companies are still working out what it means for them, but Abundantia seems to have moved beyond the theoretical stage. How would you describe the strategy?
Malhotra: AI is a strategic priority for us. It is not simply another means of reducing costs and saving time.
Throughout our journey, we have factored in technological shifts. COVID taught us how to work remotely, and we naturally began weaving that into our production workflow. When streaming arrived in India, it completely changed how hundreds of millions of Indian consumers experienced content. We were the first company from the film ecosystem to move into streaming.
I sense an even bigger opportunity with AI. Abundantia has been working on it in our own way for the past two years. As with streaming, the idea was to first understand what we were dealing with, build capability and build for the long term.
DEADLINE: Will AI end up as a positive thing for the industry, then?
Malhotra: I look at AI as an amplifier of imagination and an accelerator of growth. More importantly, I see it addressing a fundamental aspect of the content business: Risk. This business has risk built into it because risk comes from the consumer side. It is an intangible reason why people spend time and money on what we offer. Any attempt to eliminate that risk would be futile.
So we asked ourselves: Can AI help reduce the cost of going wrong? Beyond the logistical benefits – cost, time and scale – can it improve our ability to understand how and where we go wrong? If we do go wrong, can we learn quickly from those mistakes and build that learning into a replicable model? That is fundamentally how AI is built into Abundantia’s strategy.”
We have a dedicated creative division called AiOn, under which we have been doing all our AI work. I’m happy to tell you this today that in 2027 we are launching AiOn as a fully fledged, fully native AI studio. AiOn will develop its own stories, create its own content, produce fully generated as well as hybrid work, and manage the entire ecosystem, just as Abundantia does as a standalone studio.
DEADLINE: Will it remain within Abundantia?
Malhotra: For the moment, it will sit within Abundantia, but we are building it in a way that gives it its own identity and scope. Workflows have become hybrid, and production and creative thinking are becoming hybrid. The capability needed to run AI at studio level will not be found solely within the conventional media and entertainment system. It is truly a confluence of technology and art.
Technology has already disrupted the conventional media and entertainment model in two important ways. First, through funding from technology-native companies; and second, through disruption in distribution, whether via streaming or other non-conventional forms that are now mainstream. This is technology creating a new wave of creatives. AiOn is intended to harness that at a dedicated level as a native AI studio.
DEADLINE: Who will lead AiOn?
Malhotra: In the immediate term, it will remain under Abundantia’s leadership, with me leading AiOn as well. To clarify, we will continue to call it AiOn – we are not calling it AiOn Studios. I’m using that description for ease.
We will draw on Abundantia’s learning and capability across the ecosystem, from creative to screen and everything in between. We will also draw on the networks, knowledge and access we have built, while rapidly creating a similar ecosystem under AiOn. The strategy is based on the fact that we will need new skill sets. The person telling the story will still be human, but that person’s background may be very different from what we have conventionally seen.
DEADLINE: What prompted you to make this move?
Malhotra: One statistic excites me most. In the last six months, on average, I have received three times as many story pitches from people who have never written, made films or belonged to the conventional filmmaking ecosystem as I have in the past.
That is the impact of AI-driven democratization on our business. People can bounce ideas around, refine pitches, create an audiovisual package around the story they want to tell and add music. AiOn defines itself as human-first and AI-empowered, and I’m seeing that happen in front of my eyes in real time.
DEADLINE: You have spoken about two films coming out of the studio – Chiranjeevi Hanuman and Jai Santoshi Mata: Sukh Sampatti Daata. Where do those projects stand?
Malhotra: Chiranjeevi Hanuman is completing readiness. Jai Santoshi Mata is a hybrid project and is set to go on the floors early next year. The work on world-building and on every aspect of AI generation is already under way.
Beyond that, we have accelerated the slates we have been building. Our work with one of our long-standing partners, InVideo, is bearing fruit. Two films are under way, including one that is about to go on the floors, and three other scripts – with defined filmmakers, timelines and budgets – are already in development.
My understanding of using AI to create films is that the only way to do it is to get on and do it. We have accumulated significant learning through the production process of Chiranjeevi Hanuman. We are building on that as we take Jai Santoshi Mata and two other films to the floors, as we find new filmmaking voices and as we learn through consumer research.
When I say AiOn will operate like a studio, there is a reason I distinguish that from its current form as a creative division. AiOn will leverage AI across the value chain.
DEADLINE: You have mentioned the increase in pitches from non-traditional sources. In Hollywood, YouTube creators and people from the wider creator economy are moving into film and television rapidly. Are you seeing the same change in India, and are you looking in those places?
Malhotra: It is safe to say that the penetration of AI into daily life, especially among people under 35 in India, is virtually 100%. Anyone with a smartphone is experiencing AI at work. Anyone with a smart device is experiencing AI at work.
That gives me confidence and optimism. I no longer have to sell the concept. A year or 18 months ago, I was talking about upskilling writers and directors and asking how people would be able to create. People have moved so aggressively along the learning curve that those challenges are falling by the wayside.
Anyone with a story to tell now has the ability to get that story into tangible form. The democratization of distribution through YouTube, Instagram and WhatsApp means those stories can reach audiences. The gatekeepers who controlled which stories were told to the wider public are falling away.
As a studio and producer, my ability to access disruptive, non-conventional voices is greater than ever. We are constantly scouting these platforms to see whether there is a distinctive voice, a concept or a story we would otherwise not encounter. It is easier said than done, because much of the time we have to go to those creators rather than simply wait for them to come to us.
DEADLINE: So how do you harness all of this?
Malhotra: The key issue is mindset. Before you build an AI team, workflow, company or film, you need an AI mindset. I’m constantly telling my team to think about timelines, opportunity and economics as they would in technology, while retaining blue-sky thinking in the way we tell stories.
It is happening in real time. The number of pitches I receive from creators, especially those under 30, is phenomenal. Yesterday, my team and I heard a story and looked at one another, saying that it would never have occurred to someone who was native to the conventional system because it was so far outside the usual way of thinking.
There has never been a better time to be in the storytelling business. Audiences are more willing than ever to consume and accept differentiated content – look at the success of phenomena such as Obsession and Backrooms. At the other end, creators of all kinds are being empowered to tell their stories better. The challenge is to identify the right voices and build an institution around them, rather than treating them as one-off projects.
DEADLINE: Moving back to your traditional business, Abundantia has this year launched films for Prime Video and Netflix and a series for Amazon. Maa Behen performed well on Netflix and charted strongly. Are there plans to expand that universe, perhaps through a sequel or series spin-off?
Malhotra: Both films we made this year, Subedaar and Maa Behen, are built around strong central characters and large, expandable worlds. The director they have in common, Suresh Triveni, our partner and collaborator, who imagined these worlds and characters as extending beyond a single outing.
Development work is under way, given that both films landed with reasonable success. If the creative interests align, they lend themselves to franchising and future instalments without a doubt. However, a sequel should build on the original and its foundations, and it cannot depend on the original alone for its success. There has to be a solid reason for a second instalment of anything.
Whittock: There was a lot of excitement about Anil Kapoor returning to the action genre with Subedaar. Was it an easy sell, or did he need convincing?
Malhotra: Anil and I have known each other since 2011, when I was running Viacom18 and we were marketing and distributing Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol in India, which featured him. We have enjoyed each other’s company and shared sensibility ever since.
When Suresh was developing Subedaar – a unique mainstream action drama around an older hero, something Hindi cinema and much of Indian cinema is not known for – he had one actor in mind: Anil Kapoor.
At the time, Anil hadn’t led an action film for 23 years. I called him and said, ‘Anil, I’m producing this film with the wonderful director Suresh Triveni, who made Jalsa and Tumhari Sulu for us. We’re building an action film about an older ex-serviceman who takes on the system.’ Before I could ask whether he was interested, he said, ‘Done. I’m in. I’ll do the film. When do we start?’
Although it seemed like an instinctive decision, he knew the genre was right for him. He knew his audience and understood that his fans wanted to see him return in that kind of role. He also saw the creative talent involved and committed to it completely.
DEADLINE: Looking ahead to 2027 and 2028, what is the plan for Abundantia? There is a lot of money in the market, but some of it appears to be receding and the number of commissions is coming down. It feels like a difficult place to work if you don’t know what you’re doing – commissions and greenlights are no longer being handed out simply to meet the demand created by the streaming boom. How do you read the market?
Malhotra: That’s a fantastic assessment. India is an unforgiving market because it is made up of extremely value-conscious consumers. The Indian content consumer wants disproportionately high value for their time and money – in that order: time and money. And 2026 has been a year of growth across content consumption. The overall pie has increased, but the way it is sliced, and where growth and decline are happening, is constantly shifting.
This year has seen a major return to cinemas. The habit that COVID disrupted, but which began rebuilding gradually from 2022 and 2023, has demonstrated that people are willing to go to theatres. Films that succeed seem to have no ceiling. We are seeing bigger blockbusters at the level of individual films than ever before.
At the same time, we are seeing rejection at an unprecedented level. There is no ceiling to how well a film can perform, but there is also no floor to how badly it can do. Audiences are exercising their choices more decisively.
DEADLINE: So how do you meet the challenge?
Malhotra: To align with it, you have to keep sight of where the goalposts will be when your film or series is ready to be consumed. Novelty is also being rewarded, and that is something Abundantia has factored in from the beginning. It is becoming a significant moat for us. New worlds, new characters, new forms and disruptive genres are becoming the need of the hour.
The market is becoming more challenging, but that does not necessarily mean there is a recession. The kind and volume of content being sought are being defined more sharply. Everyone is focusing more on engagement, return on investment and a forward-looking perspective, rather than simply buying something off the shelf to meet demand for the following weekend.
That mindset is gone. This is a healthy correction and a timely rationalisation. It will improve the overall health of the business and allow quality players—and customer-focused platforms, streamers, networks and cinemas – to prosper.
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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.
We start with scripted. Check back tomorrow for the best of MIPCOM’s unscripted fare.
Image: BBC Studios
BBC STUDIOS
Length: 5 x 60’
Producers: BBC Studios Natural History Unit, The Open University
Networks: BBC (U.K.), BBC America (U.S.)
The BBC’s natural history output has set the global benchmark even with many more players in the field today than a decade ago. Hidden Planet is the latest in the canon, this time turning the micro-cameras on the world of insects.
The five-part series shines a spotlight on insect societies, highlighting how ants, beetles and other bugs play the roles of parents, builders and sophisticated communicators as they strike alliances with larger animals and perform incredible feats of strength and intelligence.
The BBC has equipped the BBC Studios Natural History Unit with a mountain of the latest scientific work and top-of-the-line cameras to aid the filming. In this case, the scientific theory has been combined with bespoke robotic systems and specially designed lenses to get to the heart of insect life. Worryingly, the series will show how their communities are increasingly under threat from humans.
With BBC America already on board as a co-producer and backed by research from The Open University, BBC Studios hits Cannes with the closest thing to a sure-fire documentary seller on the Croisette this year.
THE BILLION DOLLAR HASH HUNT
BLUE ANT RIGHTS
Length: 3 x 60’
Producer: Alibi Entertainment
Network:Crave (Canada)
Since completing a reverse takeover of Canadian compatriot Boat Rocker just over a year ago, Blue Ant Rights has spent time refining its sales and streaming businesses and is hoping the corporate reshuffling leaves it with a stronger distribution operation than before. MIPCOM will be a good test.
Among the highlights of its slate is The Billion Dollar Hash Hunt, the latest doc series from Canada’s Crave, the red-hot streamer behind Heated Rivalry. This one is billed as a “true-crime treasure hunt” that chronicles the story of former smuggler Billy Greer, who moved thousands of tons of hash for shadowy Dutch crime network The Octopus.
Greer’s caper came to an end when 54 tons of drugs were seized and DEA agent Rick Carter sent him down for 20 years. It’s a familiar story until the plot takes a wild twist: Years later, Greer and Carter join forces to uncover what happened to the missing drugs.
This opens the story up to startling confessional interactions, remarkable archive footage and a high-stakes present day search.
With most docs in the true-crime space focused on building a picture of the past, Blue Ant will hope bringing the narrative into the modern day gives it the edge with discerning doc buyers who need their shows to cut through. Given it was greenlit by a streamer, this one looks set to work on digital platforms as well as linear TV.
Image: Fox
Fox Entertainment Global
Length: TBC
Producer: Fox Entertainment Studios
Network: Fox (U.S.), Joyn (Germany)
The Marriage Market is coming to market. A new reality dating format, the show is for U.S. network Fox, and the finished version and the format are launching internationally at MIPCOM.
The Fox show is fronted by actress-comedian-podcaster Whitney Cummings. As well as a stand-up, she is the co-creator of CBS show 2 Broke Girls and creator of NBC’s Whitney. As a host, she fronted HBO’s Friends gameshow, Fast Friends.
Billed as an immersive matchmaking experience and a new take on the dating show, the format features singletons who are tired of swiping and first dates and are ready to get hitched. The twist is, the would-be brides and grooms must hand total control of their love lives to their families.
When two families think they have the perfect match, the couple are introduced and get engaged on the spot. Then the new pair and their families move in together and the matchmaking is put to the test.
The families are still in charge and must decide if they have found them the one, or whether it has not worked out and their loved one needs to be pitched back into the marriage market, giving them another shot at finding the love of their lives.
The show has an international pedigree. It is borne out of a formats initiative that saw Fox work with international broadcasters such as ProSiebenSat.1 in Germany and TF1 in France to jointly work up new unscripted shows. Accordingly, The Marriage Market bowed in Germany first, on ProSieben’s streaming platform Joyn. Cheerio Entertainment, part of the German broadcaster’s production and distribution division, made the German version.
Fox Entertainment Studios makes the U.S. version, which is slated for Fox’s 2026-2027 season. Alycia Rossiter, who worked on The Bachelor and The Bachelorette, is the showrunner. Fox Entertainment Global is handling distribution and will be looking for love—from buyers—in Cannes.
RUINS: RISE & FALL
BOSSANOVA MEDIA
Length:8 x 60’
Producer: Like A Shot Entertainment
Networks: Warner Bros. Discovery (EMEA), SBS (Australia), Channel 4 (U.K.), TV2 (Norway), Sky New Zealand
Every year for a decade, London-based BossaNova Media has held a pitching event dubbed Development Day, which brings together its biggest producers and clients. The idea is to fast-track greenlights and get factual projects out the door at a quicker pace. Paul Heaney’s company itself acts as the central commissioner, putting projects into production and then sells the rights to buyers who have already stated their interest.
Ruins: Rise & Fall is one such series. The eight-part show was greenlit in April, with Heaney saying at the time, “Some projects you invest in are a bit of a risk, but Ruins: Rise & Fall isn’t one of them.” The reason for that is the unquenching market need for solid factual projects that can both be popular on linear channels and drive older viewers to streaming services.
The series explores 24 sites around the world and is built on one idea: every ruin has two stories—how it rose and how it fell. Viewers are taken to ancient Sri Lankan rock fortress Sigiriya, the ruins of Ephesus in Turkey and Roman auxiliary fort Vindolanda in the U.K. and on to more modern places such as Hitler’s Wolf’s Lair in Poland and vast underground Nazi war factories.
Archaeologists and historians tell their stories from the ambition and ingenuity that made them, to the conflict and catastrophe that transformed them into the ruins of today. Digital reconstruction will show sites being stripped back to before the first stone was laid to seeing them rebuilt and then torn apart through war, disaster, abandonment and decay.
Given that several of the largest global territories are already off the market is a testament to BossaNova’s strategic foresight, so those buyers in the remaining territories should move fast.
100 COOKS
Image: WBITVP
Warner Bros. International Television Production
Length: 9 x 60’
Producer: Lando Entertainment
Network: Food Network (U.S)
“Your number could come up at any moment.” That is the logline that greets chefs daring to take on Warner’s 100 Cooks, which found its perfect American host in the shape of Terry Crews. A Food Network original, it is now being served up internationally.
There may be a few out there now, but 100 Cooks feels one of the highest-stakes (or should that be steaks?) on offer.
The 100 contestants enter the vast kitchen arena ready for a chance to call the shots. A randomized Challenge Mixer reveals the next test: From weeknight meals and party bites to holiday sweets or the best burger. The Cook Mixer then selects which competitors will step forward and take on the challenge.
Nobody knows when they will compete, what they will be asked to do, how many cooks will join them, or how many could be sent home. Everyone must be ready for anything, and as 100 becomes 50, the kitchen slowly empties and the competition intensifies until one cook eventually walks away victorious. In the case of the U.S. version, it was Bryce, an oil field worker from Montana.
100 Cooks was a big hit for Food Network and it’s no wonder Warner Bros. International Television Production is prioritizing this one in Cannes. Brooklyn Nine-Nine star Crews is a hugely recognizable name who brings a unique feel to the show, and so 100 Cooks could easily work as finished tape or be shopped as a format, for which territories would then seek a host who can similarly make a big noise. At MIPCOM, Warner is also selling TLC UK format Unacceptable, New Zealand’s Crackhead and the Buried with Michael Sheen doc about the Good Omens star’s investigation into toxic waste.
ALL HEART
BOAT ROCKER STUDIOS
Length: 4 x 40’
Producers: Boat Rocker Studios
Network: Crave (Canada)
The second Crave documentary in our Dozen, this four-parter has been selected to satisfy the hunger for sports access docs. The docuseries’ full working title is All Heart: Canada Women’s Rugby and the Quest for Rugby World Cup Glory. It was ordered last year and will stream on Bell Media’s Crave this year.
The series follows the Canadian team’s historic run to the World Cup final, where they were ultimately toppled by host country England, going down 33-13 in front of a sellout crowd of 82,000 at Twickenham Stadium in South West London.
It goes behind the scenes, showcasing the culmination of years of hard work and sacrifice, with Rugby Canada and World Rugby providing director Kathleen James behind-the-scenes access to the players and coaching staff. James is known for making 2025’s Naomi Osaka: The Second Set, a tennis access doc that was sold to Fox Corp.-owned streamer Tubi for the U.S. market.
Exec producers on All Heart include Jay Baruchel—the Canadian actor and filmmaker with credits including Knocked Up, How to Train Your Dragon and She’s Out of My League—and rock band The Tragically Hip, who are long-time supporters of women’s sports and fundraisers for the Canadian women’s rugby team.
The title is only just hitting the market now despite its 2025 order, and takes a key spot in Boat Rocker Studios’ slate this year.
Image: James Stack/NBC
NBCUniversal Formats
Length: TBC
Producers: Universal Television Alternative Studio, Electric Hot Dog, The New York Times
Network: NBC (U.S.)
The New York Times daily word puzzle game Wordle is coming to U.S. TV, and the format is coming to the international market.
The game is a phenomenon. Developed by Josh Wardle, a Welsh software engineer at Reddit, players have to find a five-letter word. They have six attempts, with colored tiles offering feedback on the correct and redundant letters, and their placement in that day’s word.
The New York Times paid a reported $3 million to buy Wordle and it has become a cornerstone of its digital and games offering. The game has racked up billions of users. Getting a word with a small number of guesses is a source of pride for players.
The Wordle TV game show will bow on U.S. broadcast network NBC. Broadcaster, journalist, Today anchor and avid Wordle player Savannah Guthrie is set to host. She has form with the game, previously playing a huge version of the game in Times Square, New York.
Universal Television Alternative Studio is producing with Jimmy Fallon’s Electric Hot Dog and The New York Times. Fallon, who has increasingly moved into producing, is an exec-producer on the show. He is a Wordle fan, even having a segment on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon in which he and the team played the game live on air.
The TV game show has been a few years in the making. It will take place over three super-sized rounds with two teams solving the Wordle puzzles in each half-hour episode. NYT execs have promised the show will stay true to the spirit of the game.
The Wordle game show is on trend with several TV adaptations of games in the cards. There are TV versions of Monopoly, Cluedo and The Settlers of Catan being developed. Historically, the likes of Scrabble, Boggle, Trivial Pursuit and Pictionary have all been adapted for TV.
In terms of Wordle, NBCUniversal Formats, a division of Universal Studio Group, is across distribution and selling the format.
CAPTCHA
SEVEN.ONE STUDIOS INTERNATIONAL
Length: 10 x 50’
Producer: Thinketers
Network: LA 2 (Spain)
Spain is known in the unscripted world for the likes of Operación Triunfo and El Conquistador, but it has primarily been an importer of formats, rather than an exporter.
Germany’s Seven.One Studios International is hoping to add another name to the canon with Captcha. The game show is based around those ubiquitous internet verification tests that check if the visitor to a website is human or a bot.
The format tests the statement ‘I’m not a robot’ by putting four contestants through a series of visual puzzles, logic games and AI-powered, web-inspired challenges to prove their human credentials.
Celebrity guests accompany the contestants, ideally helping and not hindering them, to an all-or-nothing final, where one test decides everything, including the true identity of the player.
A final verification proves if they are human or not, and if they keep the cash that they have been accruing.
The format has been already produced for Spanish broadcaster La 2, where it was a success across its first season.
Seven.One Studios International, now part of the expanding MediaForEurope empire, will be looking to captcha interest with the show in a cluttered market for attention- grabbing formats.
HISTORY’S STRANGE FORTUNES WITH KEVIN BACON
A+E GLOBAL MEDIA
Length: 10 x 60’
Producers: A+E Factual Studios, VaynerWatt
Network: The History Channel (U.S.)
History is filled with stories of the strange ways people won and lost their fortunes. In A+E Global Media’s latest talent-led unscripted series, the aim is to tell as many of those stories as possible.
History’s Strange Fortunes with Kevin Bacon will see the Footloose, X: Men First Class and Crazy, Stupid, Love actor examine wild tales such as Elvis dropping $50,000 on a midnight sandwich one evening to million-dollar scams and gold rush windfalls. Expect greed, luck, obsession and the old adage that fortune really does favor the brave (and the strange, according to A+E).
The talent-led model has dominated commissioning at The History Channel for some time, with numerous slates pairing well-known faces with lesser-known cases. Indeed, Bacon is just one of four star-fronted series in a March 2026 slate—the others being Extraordinary Origins with Ted Danson, Crime and Justice with Tom Selleck and History’s Greatest Machines with Dolph Lundgren.
“Talent-led formats succeed on History because they unite inimitable personalities with amazing storytelling,” says Patrick Vien, Group MD for International at A+E Global Media. “Kevin Bacon’s global fan base paired with our universal fascination with money gives History’s Strange Fortunes broad international appeal.”
At MIPCOM this year, both Bacon and Danson’s shows will take center stage for A+E, alongside the likes of Lifetime movie Buried in Barstow and miniseries The Bible Revealed.
TERRAIN: BATTLE OF THE FLAGS
PRIMITIVES
Length: 10 x 25’
Producer: Roses Are Blue
Network: ZDF (Germany), YouTube
Germany has been the progenitor of some of Europe’s most creative entertainment formats and release windows in recent years with shows such as 7 Vs. Wild and Terrain. Battle of the Flags is now hoping to be its latest success story.
The 10-part, half-hour format is the brainchild of German actor, comedian and YouTuber Torge Oerlich, known to his followers as Freshtorge. He began developing the adventure-reality show, which aims to generate an immersive gameplay experience, with Belgian format maker Roses Are Blue. German pubcaster ZDF quickly boarded the project.
Inspired by gaming mechanics, Terrain follows ten high-profile creators who divide into five teams and, taking a cue from The Traitors, compete in a purpose-built game environment set against a dramatic Scottish Highlands backdrop. Their mission is simply to capture the other team’s flag and defend their own. Unlike The Traitors, the gameplay does not compel them to form alliances, as the teams are fixed.
The teams self-shoot their experience and wear specially developed third-person camera systems integrated into a bespoke vest to give the aesthetic a distinct look and feel of video games.
At 25 minutes per episode, the show is designed for streaming services, and it has been given an innovative rollout in Germany this fall, when three episodes will launch on ZDF’s streaming service, with Episode 1 also available on YouTube. The following two episodes join the Google-owned service a day later, and the linear premiere on ZDFneo will follow later. Dedicated companion content will run on a standalone YouTube channel and ‘reaction programming’ will hit ZDF’s Twitch channel.
Belgium-based Primitives, has worldwide rights (excluding German-speaking Europe) and will present the show to buyers in the run-up to MIPCOM, with a full market launch also prepared.
Having the creators film the action themselves creates a level of authenticity and immediacy that is particularly exciting for younger audiences.
DIANA UNHEARD
Cineflix Rights
Length: 3 x 60’
Producer: Love Monday TV
Network: TBC
Having gained access to the audio tapes that formed the basis of Andrew Morton’s explosive book about the Princess Diana, Love Monday TV has made Diana Unheard, a documentary series that will air never-before-heard parts of the recordings.
The producers hope that hearing Diana talk about her life, loves and family will reframe people’s perception of her, moving away from seeing through a lens of vulnerability and tragedy and showing her as self-aware, determined, and actively taking control of her life.
Love Monday has made numerous shows about the British monarchy including Her Majesty the Queen: Behind Closed Doors for ITV and William and Harry: Love and Betrayal for Channel 5.
Diana can be heard in revealing form in the tapes, which were conversations recorded with her friend James Colthurst in 1991. She talks about Prince Charles and Camilla (now King Charles III and Queen Camilla), as well as the then Prince Andrew, who has since been stripped of his royal titles following scrutiny of his ties to Jeffrey Epstein.
As well as hearing the audio of the Princess, the three-part doc series explains how and when they were recorded, and the extraordinary lengths Diana went to in order to ensure her story could be heard. For example, she devised a daring plan to have the tapes secretly smuggled out of Kensington Palace.
Colthurst and Morton appear in the series, as does Michael O’Mara, publisher of Morton’s book, Diana: Her True Story.
The recordings and Morton’s tome had a huge impact on the Royal Family and the whole British establishment. The timing of the new doc is appropriate, with 2027 the 30th anniversary of Diana’s death.
Cineflix Rights moved for the sales rights and will bring the doc to market at MIPCOM. Stories about the British Royal Family have enduring international appeal. Interest is heightened when royal stories cover Princess Diana, who was one of the most famous women in the world, with people fascinated by her life.
THE CHASE AROUND THE WORLD
ITV Studios
Length: 6 x 60’
Producer: Bright Entertainment
Network: ITV (U.K.)
Fancy joining the “smartest road trip in the world”?
There’s no better way to give a stalwart format a bit of global appeal than by sending its icons and contestants on a journey around the globe. The Chase Around the World does just that, taking a tried-and-tested, colossally successful format and an additional bit of jeopardy, with firm potential for international sales.
Much like splashy premium factual shows such as Race Across the World or Destination X, the show sees contestants travel across the globe, this time in a race to find all six Chasers in secret international locations, holding onto the show’s trademark general knowledge challenges but adding an adventure element.
In the U.K. version, where the format originated, contestants played for £100,000 ($133,000), although this figure is not fixed for the international remakes.
The six pairs went around Rome, haring after two iconic Chasers, the Beast and the Governess, as they journeyed towards Bradley Walsh at the finish line. The route took them through some of the Italian capital’s iconic landmarks as they answered questions that, if incorrect, could lead to serious consequences.
The Chase Around the World rated well in the U.K. and is just the latest in a line of entertainment shows that have used travel as a bedrock. It both showcased the spin-off opportunities that such a strong format can open up, and also carries potential to run and run, given that the world is The Chase’s oyster. Local buyers will be licking their lips.
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The Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (PÖFF) has unveiled its competition and first feature selections for its 30th edition.
The fest revealed the titles, including 21 world premieres and three international premieres, on Wednesday. Among them is British actor Ray Panthaki’s feature debut In Starland.
PÖFF’s official selection will feature 12 world premieres from 15 countries. The movies revealed on Wednesday explore such themes as “coming of age, family relationships and pressing social issues through distinctive perspectives,” fest organizers said. “Strong mother figures recur throughout the selection, revealing tensions between love, responsibility, loyalty and independence.”
Festival curator Triin Tramberg highlighted that discovery is “at the heart of PÖFF’s official competition,” adding: “This year, we bring together established directors and filmmakers making their second features, creating a space where very different cinematic perspectives can meet,” she added, emphasizing the films’ “diversity in geography, style, subject,” shared strong sense of storytelling and exploration of “familiar things from an unexpected angle.”
Concluded Tramberg: “For me, that is what makes festival cinema exciting: you come looking for one thing and leave having discovered something you didn’t know you were looking for.”
PÖFF 2026 takes place in the Estonian capital Nov. 6-22.
Check out the list of titles unveiled below.
Official Competition
“A Job Well Done” (“Un travail exemplaire,” Switzerland), WP,
Directed by Frédéric Baillif for Alva Film, Freshprod, RTS
“Caballé” (Spain, Belgium, WP),
Directed by Patricia Ortega for Lantica Studios
“Drumskin” (“Cuero,”Argentina, WP)
Directed by Joaquín Cambre for Camerun Films
“I Just Want to Talk to My Mom” (Iran, Türkiye, WP)
Directed by Mohsen Rabiei for griffin Pictuees, KosKos Film
“No Me Without You” (mind ei ole sinuta,” Estonia, WP)
Directed by Janno Jürgens for Filmivabrik
“On Top of the Cliff” (“Sobre el acantilado,” Mexico, Peru, Switzerland, WP)
Directed by Enrica Perez for Sexto Sentido, in co-production with Martfilms, Aaron Film
“One Sweet Hour” (Ireland, WP)
Directed by Declan Recks for Samson Films
“Sh*t Happens” (“Comemierda,” Dominican Republic, WP)
Directed by José María Cabral for Lantica Studios
“Sinless” (A pokol élōvilága,” Hungary, WP)
Directed by Attila Hartung for Lupa Pictures
“The Assignment” (Belgium, Germany, Netherlands, WP)
Directed by Patrice Toye for Menuetto, 2Pilots Filmproduction, Willy Waltz Int’l, Stenola Prods
“The Matriarch” (Die Matriarchin,” Germany, WP)
Directed by Alison Kuhn for Schiwago Film, Tidewater Pictures
“Where Is My Son?” (Kazakhstan WP)
Directed by Dias Bertis for Taurus Asia Production
First Feature Competition
“Black Slaughter” (France, Israel, WP)
Directed by Gigi Betito for Alcatraz Films, Betito Films
“Exotic” (Poland, Int’l P)
Directed by Sonja Orlewicz-Zakrzewska for Mozaika Films
“In Starland” (UK, USA, WP)
Directed by Ray Panthaki for Le Bateau Lavoir, Archface Films, Killer Films
“Happy Ending” (Iran, WP)
Directed by Atena Mahmoudi, produced by Abdolreza Heydari
“Lionheart” (“Løvehjerte,” Denmark, Iceland, Int’l P)
Directed by Nagieb Khaja for Tookbox, ZikZak Filmworks
“Oblivion” (Užmarštis,” Lithuania, WP)
Directed by Danielius Minkevičius for Tremora
“Princess” (Ñusta,” Ecuador, Mexico, Argentina, Peru, Bolivia, WP)
Directed by Christian Rojas for Epopeya, oso Rojo Films, Woo Films, Casa Agua Florida, Hain Cine, Chao Pescao
“Running Wild” (Taiwan, WP)
Directed by Wang Yi-Ling for Film10 Production
“Status: Rejected” (Philippines, Int’ P)
Directed by Vahn Leinard Pascual for Black Cap Pictures, Clever Minds Productions
“The Sweetness of Bitter Things” (North Macedonia, WP)
Directed by Andrey Volkashin for Veda Film Productions
“When She Hears the Bells” (Les clochettes de Kaboul,” France, Germany, Belgium, WP)
Directed by Chabname Zariab for Alta Rocca Films, Starhaus Filmproduktion, Versus (Opus)
“White as Salt” (“Tograğin Tuzu,” Türkiye, WP)
Directed by Murat Eroğlu for Eroğlu Film
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