Wagatha Christie, Vogue, Keanu Reeves Formula 1 & Asif Kapadia Docs On Disney+ UK Slate — Edinburgh TV Festival

Jesse Whittock
·4 min read
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Disney+ has commissioned a doc on the sensational ‘Wagatha Christie’ legal case, another on fashion magazine Vogue and a Keanu Reeves-voiced Formula 1 series as part of its UK slate.

In total, the streamer’s Director of Unscripted Content, EMEA Sean Doyle has commissioned five unscripted series, which will premiere on Disney+ in EMEA and Asia Pacific. Full details of the slate can be found below.

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“Our aim was to find brilliant once-in-a-lifetime stories that showcase a wide range of subjects; and these latest projects truly deliver on that promise,” said Doyle. “We’re working with our elite creative partners on this slate, reflecting the UK’s status as an unscripted powerhouse and establishing Disney+ as a destination for unscripted titles.”

Disney+ plans to create 60 local productions by 2024 as it seeks to up its global subscriber base.

Toplining today’s orders, Wagatha Christie (working title) will recall the libel case that pitted Coleen Rooney against Rebekah Vardy, both of whom are married to major England football stars.

Rooney successfully defended herself against a high profile defamation case that Vardy brought against her related to alleged leaking of stories to the tabloid press. Her infamous Instagram post in October 2019, in which she outlined how she had conducted a sting on Vardy by planting false stories on social media, had initially triggered the spat and earned her the moniker ‘Wagatha Christie.’

The three-part series comes from Lorton Entertainment, which previously made a doc about Coleen’s husband Wayne Rooney, is producing in association with Dorothy Street Pictures.

Also on the slate is Brawn: The One Pound Formula 1 Team (working title), a four-part doc series from All3Media-owned North One in which John Wick star Keanu Reeves tells the story of the independent British Formula 1 team that cost just £1 ($1.20) but still won the 2009 World Championship. It includes contributions from British F1 driver Jenson Button and team owner Ross Brawn.

Reeves, who conducts the interviews and narrates, said: “I am honoured to be a part of telling the incredible story of Brawn GP and their remarkable F1 Championship Season in 2009 with those who lived it in this four-part documentary series. It has been great to have the support of Disney+ and producing partnership with North One to bring this story to life.”

Simon Hammerson is showrunner and producer, with Daryl Goodrich directing. Executive Producers are Reeves, Disney+’s Doyle and Neil Duncanson.

In Vogue: The 1990s follows the inside story of the eponymous fashion magazine and the style of the era. Coming from Vogue Studios and Raw, it includes insights from Vogue editors Anna Wintour and Edward Enninful and influential figures from the 90s.

“The 90s was such an exciting and important decade for fashion. It was the period when fashion entered the mainstream – when it became inescapable, culturally relevant and full of iconoclasm and expression and difference,” said Wintour. “The personalities were larger than life too. This series will capture all of that and I’m thrilled it’s coming to Disney+.”

Liesel Evans and Sam Anthony are executive producers for Raw, with Sarah Amos, Mark Guiducci, and Helen Estabrook doing the same for Vogue Studio parent Condé Nast Entertainment.

Camden is a four-part original documentary series, from Simon Chinn and Jonathan Chinn’s Lightbox and Amy director Asif Kapadia. Day One Pictures, the production company co-founded by Amy Winehouse’s original manager Nick Shymansky, Jasper Waller-Bridge and Ben Friedman, is also attached.

The series will look at how the North London area has acted as the launchpad to many of modern music’s most iconic stars, and how some careers were broken by it.

Kapadia said: “I’m a born and bred North Londoner and Camden has been a key part of my life; I’ve had all sorts of experiences there: good, great…and edgy. This series celebrates an ever-evolving music scene in a unique place which has always been at the forefront of counterculture and has a musical legacy to match anywhere in the world. I am delighted to be working with Lightbox and Day One and we are hugely excited that Disney+ has given us a global platform for to tell this special story.”

Kapadia is series director, with Gaby Aung the producer. Executive Producers are Simon Chinn, Jonathan Chinn and Suzanne Lavery, Shymansky, Waller-Bridge and Friedman.

Lastly, Finding Michael is “an emotionally driven” feature-length doc that follows British broadcaster and Made in Chelsea star Spencer Matthews on a journey to Everest to locate his brother, who disappeared 23 years ago aged 22 after becoming the youngest Briton to reach the mountain’s summit.

Banijay-owned Shine TV is co-producing with with The Natural Studios, the joint venture of Shine parent Banijay and Bear Grylls. Executive producers are Jon Swain and Tom Hutchings for Shine TV; Bear Grylls and Delbert Shoopman for The Natural Studios. Director is Tom Beard .

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