ITV Studios labels Mammoth Screen and Quay Street land major N&R titles

BBC network has tied with BBC Wales for two dramas from Mammoth Screen and Quay Street Productions.

Code of Silence indie Mammoth Screen will adapt Danny Robins’ paranormal podcast The Witch Farm while Quay Street will produce crime series Old Town Murders.

The BBC1 Wales-set commissions are part of the BBC’s push to ensure content across the devolved nations portrays those places authentically.

The Witch Farm will star Gabrielle Creevy (The Guest) and Michael Socha (Showtrial) as a couple who leave London for a remote farmhouse in the Brecon Beacons to make a fresh start, only to be haunted by a host of unexplained disturbances.

Written by Danny Robins – the creator the BBC’s paranormal podcast and TV series Uncanny and the West End play 2:22 A Ghost Story, the 4 x 60-minute series is inspired by real-life accounts explored in his podcast which is produced by Bafflegab and Uncanny Media for Radio 4.

It will be directed by Stacey Gregg, exec produced by Robins, Gregg, James Gandhi, Simon Barnard and Damien Timmer for Mammoth Screen, and Nawfal Faizullah and Rebecca Ferguson for the BBC. The producer is Megan Ott.

Robins said: “Get ready for a supernatural thriller that plays out as the most deliciously dark detective story – an emotional rollercoaster that will have you gripped, moved and spine-tingled.”

BBC drama director Lindsay Salt said: “Taking BBC Drama viewers into the hugely popular world of Danny’s podcasts for the first time is incredibly exciting, and in Gabrielle and Michael we have the perfect leads.”

Gandhi added: “Danny is a master storyteller, and we hope this will thrill and terrify the BBC audience.”

Old Town Murders is written, created and exec produced by Matthew Barry (Men Up, The Guest).

Mark Lewis Jones (Baby Reindeer) and Steffan Rhodri (Steeltown Murders) will play detective partners working together to solve murders in the idyllic seaside town of Tenby. The series will reveal how the pair find meaning, purpose and friendship later in life.

Production will be based in Bridgend with filming in Tenby, Cardiff and along the South Wales coastline.

Supporting the leads are James Bamford (Masters of the Air), Bethan Mary-James (The Guest), Catherine Ayers (Missing You) and Julie Graham (This City is Ours).

The exec producers are Davina Earl and Nicola Shindler for Quay Street with Andy Newbery and Rebecca Ferguson for the BBC. Ferguson is the co-commissioner alongside head of commissioning for BBC Wales Nick Andrews. The series producer is Guy Hescott (Run Away) is series producer.

Barry said: “Old Town Murders is more than a crime drama; at its heart, it’s about friendship, reinvention and the courage to begin again later in life. After working together on Men Up, I wrote this series for Mark and Steffan, and I can’t wait for them, alongside the rest of our incredible cast, to bring these characters to life.”

Andrews said: “Old Town Murders is where picture perfect Wales meets murder mystery in a thrilling, twisty tale.

“The incredibly talented Matt Barry and the brilliant team at Quay Street have a track record of delivering standout drama time and time again, and we’re absolutely delighted to be partnering with them on what’s set to be another showstopper series.”

Both series are made in association with and will be distributed by ITV Studios, and both have received Welsh Government support via Creative Wales.

This article was originally posted on www.broadcastnow.co.uk.