The Mediapro Studio Boards Nicolas Winding Refn’s ‘Famous Five’ Series For The BBC And ZDF

Jesse Whittock
·2 min read
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The Mediapro Studios has boarded Nicolas Winding Refn’s reimaginging of The Famous Five.

The Madrid-based content house has struck a production deal with BBC Studios includes distribution rights to the upcoming kids series in Spain, Portugal and Latin America.

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The series is a retelling of the bestselling Enid Blyton novels published between 1942 ands 1963, and comes from Winding Refn’s byNWR and BBC Studios-backed indie Moonage Pictures, which is behind The Pursuit of Love and Bodies, with The Mediapro Studio now an associate producer.

Danish auteur Winding Refn (Drive, Only God Forgives) co-created the series with Moonage’s Matthew Read, and both are exec producers. It is being made for the BBC in the UK and ZDF in Germany, with BBC Studios already pre-selling it to France’s TF1.

In an exclusive interview with Deadline ahead of Mipcom Cannes in October, where The Famous Five launched, Winding Refn said he was ” finally making something that my kids would actually watch.”

The Famous Five will star four rising star actors who will lead as the young protagonists: siblings Julian, Dick and Anne are played by Elliott Rose (The Northman), Kit Rakusen (Foundation) and Flora Jacoby Richardson respectively, with Diaana Babnicova (Don’t Breathe 2) cast as their cousin, Georgia. Jack Gleeson (Game of Thrones), Ann Akinjirin (Moon Knight), James Lance (Ted Lasso), Diana Quick (Father Brown) and William Abadie (Emily in Paris) have also landed roles.

Blyton’s 21 Famous Five stories take place during the children’s school holidays, which they spend all together at George’s family home, Kirrin Cottage, where they embark on action-packed adventures and remarkable mysteries.

The Famous Five TV series, built as either a six- or three-part series was commissioned by Sarah Muller, Senior Head of BBC Children’s Commissioning 7+. The commissioning editor for the BBC is Amy Buscombe. For ZDF, Frank Seyberth, Head of International Coproduction, is responsible for the series together with Katharina Kremling as commissioning editor.

Tim Kirkby (Fleabag, The Pentaverate) directs the first episode, with Asim Abbasi (Churails, Cake, Count Abdulla) and Bill Eagles (Beautiful Creatures, Gotham, Pennyworth) directing the following episodes. BBC Studios, which has a minority stake in Moonage, has international distribution rights.

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