‘Dreaming Whilst Black’ Greenlit For Season 2 By BBC & Showtime

Max Goldbart
·2 min read
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EXCLUSIVE: Big Deal Films and A24’s Dreaming Whilst Black, one of the buzziest British comedies of 2023, has been greenlit for a second season by the BBC and Showtime.

Adjani Salmon’s comedy took years to get from web series to screen but was picked up by A24 and then Showtime last year and has been catapulted, garnering strong ratings and critical acclaim. The season will premiere in the U.S. on the Paramount+ with Showtime streaming tile, on linear on Paramount+ with Showtime and in the UK on BBC Three and iPlayer. It continues to be co-produced by Big Deal in creative collaboration with A24, and A24 distributes globally.

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Dreaming follows Kwabena, played by Salmon, an aspiring filmmaker stuck in a dead-end recruitment job who takes the first step to achieving his dream of creating a TV show. Season 1 ended with Kwabena showing his new movie project to friends and family, but the project doesn’t land as he would have intended. Show also stars the likes of Dani Moseley, Rachel Adedeji and Jessica Hynes.

Featuring at number two on Deadline’s Best TV of 2023, the series has one of the BBC’s highest Black viewer share ratings of all time.

“The response has been overwhelmingly loving, raucous and humbling,” said Salmon. “I’m blessed that we have a chance to entertain da peopledem again.”

BBC comedy boss Jon Petrie told Deadline: “It’s really important to have a breadth of shows that speak to all audiences. If you’re a license fee payer and you go on the BBC comedy page, you need to see something that relates to you.”

Petrie heaped praise on Big Deal and A24, the latter of which has also invested in BBC comedy Such Brave Girls, and said outfits like A24 and Village Roadshow have sprung up as great options to help get shows to screen.

“We wouldn’t have known them a year or so ago and now we are regularly checking in with them and talking about the sort of talent we are working with,” he added. “We want to develop a show and protect talent so it feels British enough for us and then at the right time have conversations with these partners. I get messages from American producers and commissioners talking about Dreaming or Such Brave Girls all the time, so they have confidence in us.”

Dhanny Joshi and Thomas Stogdon return to executive produce for Big Deal, along with Salmon. Nicola Gregory serves as producer. The original web series was co-written by Salmon and Ali Hughes and was created by Salmon, Max Evans, Laura de Sousa Seixas and Natasha Jatania of 4 Quarters Films.

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