EXCLUSIVE: Netflix has boarded its latest BBC drama, taking the international rights to Steven Moffat’s limited series Inside Man, which has assembled a stellar above-the-line cast ahead of production taking place later this year.
Deadline can reveal that Oscar-nominated Supernova and Spotlight star Stanley Tucci has been set in the title role of the Inside Man, while he will be joined by Doctor Who and Des actor David Tennant, and The Pursuit of Love and Dracula star Dolly Wells. Rounding out the headline cast is Lydia West, who featured in the acclaimed Channel 4/HBO Max series It’s A Sin.
Doctor Who and Sherlock writer Steven Moffat is keeping plot details firmly under wraps, so much so that only he himself knows how the story will conclude. That means Netflix and the BBC are in the dark about how Inside Man will end.
What we do know is the four-part Hartswood Films series centers on a prisoner on death row in the U.S., a vicar in a quiet English town, and a maths teacher trapped in a cellar, as they cross paths in the most unexpected way.
Sherlock director Paul McGuigan will helm the series, with Alex Mercer producing. Executive producers are Sue Vertue for Hartswood Films and Ben Irving for the BBC. Chris Sussman oversees for Netflix. Inside Man was first commissioned in 2019 by BBC drama director Piers Wenger and Charlotte Moore, BBC chief content officer.
Husband and wife Moffat and Vertue said they can’t wait to “crawl out of our lockdown bunker” to get to work on the series, which Sussman described as “fiendishly clever.” Wenger added that the combination of the script and cast will create “television magic.”
BBC Studios brokered the deal with Netflix, which will stream the show outside of the UK and Ireland. It’s another example of the BBC and Netflix partnering on a major drama, with other recent examples including The Serpent and the upcoming supernatural horror series Red Rose.
Inside Man has echoes of Moffat and Mark Gatiss’ 2020 series Dracula, which was also a co-production between the BBC and Netflix. The three-part series also starred Wells and West in the retelling of Bram Stoker’s legendary story of a blood-sucking count from Transylvania.
Tucci is repped by CAA, Curtis Brown and Anonymous Content, while Tennant is repped by Independent Talent and UTA. Wells’ representatives are Independent Talent, UTA, and Anonymous Content, and West is rep
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After shockingly being snubbed by the Golden Globes, Michaela Coel’s searing BBC/HBO seriesI May Destroy You has garnered a bunch of nominations for the UK’s Broadcasting Press Guild Awards.
The limited series, about a woman piecing together the events of her sexual assault, has been nominated for Best Drama Series (5+ Episodes), while Coel herself has been nommed for Best Writer and Best Actress.
Another BBC series, Normal People, has also been recognized by journalists of the BPG. The Sally Rooney adaptation figures in the Best Drama Series (5+ Episodes) category, while stars Paul Mescal and Daisy Edgar-Jones feature in the acting shortlists, as well as both being nominated for the BPG Breakthrough Award.
The Crown’s Princess Diana, Emma Corrin, is also up for the Breakthrough gong after she shot to fame in the Netflix royal drama. Small Axe’s Amarah-Jae St. Aubyn is vying for the same prize.
St. Aubyn’s nomination is one of five for Steve McQueen’s BBC/Amazon series. It is also up for Best Writer, while Letitia Wright and Shaun Parkes figure in the performance categories.
Elsewhere, the BPG’s Innovation in Broadcasting award recognizes the industry’s creative response to the COVID-19 lockdown. Nominees include the BBC’s Lockdown Learning initiative and Channel 4’s Grayson’s Art Club.
The 47th BPG Awards take place virtually on March 12. Winners will be announced on Twitter using the hashtag #BPGAwards.
Best Documentary Series 1-3 episodes
8 Minutes And 46 Seconds: The Killing of George Floyd (Sky News)
Freddie Flintoff – Living with Bulimia (South Shore Productions for BBC One)
My Family, The Holocaust and Me (Wall to Wall for BBC One)
The Rise of the Murdoch Dynasty (72 Films for BBC Two)
Best Documentary Series 4+ episodes
Dispatches: all 2020 programmes (Various production companies for Channel 4)
Nigella’s Cook, Eat, Repeat (BBC Studios for BBC Two)
Portrait Artist of the Year, Series 7 (Storyvault Films for Sky Arts)
Once Upon a Time in Iraq (KEO Films for BBC Two)
Best Comedy
Friday Night Dinner, Series 6 (Big Talk Productions for Channel 4)
Inside No. 9, Series 5 (BBC Studios for BBC Two)
Staged, Series 1 (Infinity Hill/ GCB Films for BBC One)
This Country, Series 3 (BBC Studios for BBC Three)
The Trip, Series 4 (Greece) (Revolution Films for Sky One)
Best Entertainment
Big Zuu’s Big Eats (TwoFour’s Boomerang for Dave)
Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing, Series 3 (Owl Power for BBC Two)
Race Across the World, Series 2 (Studio Lambert for BBC Two)
Taskmaster, Series 10 (Avalon Television for Channel 4)
Best Actress
Michaela Coel (I May Destroy You)
Daisy Edgar-Jones (Normal People)
Dolly Wells (Dracula)
Letitia Wright (Mangrove, Small Axe)
