Cineflix Rights has announced multiple international deals for the BBC One primetime crime thriller “Virdee” at Mipcom.
The series has been bought by Canal+ (Netherlands), SVT (Sweden), Filmin (Spain), Britbox for its platforms across Norway, Finland and Denmark, and BBC Studios for its BBC First and BBC Player platforms across Asia. The latest sales follow deals with SBS (Australia), and Media4Fun (Poland).
“Virdee,” based on A.A. Dhand’s best-selling novels, follows Harry Virdee, played by Staz Nair (“Rebel Moon”), a Bradford cop hunting down a serial killer. His personal life is in chaos: he has been disowned by his family for crossing a religious divide by marrying Saima, played by Aysha Kala (“Criminal Record”), a woman he loves beyond anyone or anything else.
When the murderer kidnaps a local police chief’s son and holds the entire city to ransom, Harry realizes that he is going to need the help of his brother-in-law Riaz (played by Vikash Bhai, who was in “Crossfire” and “Limbo”), a drugs kingpin who runs the largest cartel in the county. Pulled together in an alliance that could ruin them both, Harry must make a choice: save himself and his family or save his city.
“Virdee” is adapted for the screen by A.A. Dhand and the directors are Mark Tonderai (“Gotham,” “Doctor Who,” “Foundation”), Milad Ami (“Bullshit,” “When the Dust Settles”) and Mo Ali (“Hijack,” “Cobra”).
The executive producers are Paul Trijbits (“Jane Eyre,” “The Casual Vacancy,” “Saving Mr Banks”) for Magical Society, A.A. Dhand, Jo McClellan for the BBC, and James Durie and Tom Misselbrook for Cineflix Rights. The series is produced by Stella Nwimo (“Nuclear,” “The London Mob”) and Himesh Kar (“Walk With Me,” “The Bengali Detective”).
“Virdee” is a Magical Society production for BBC One and BBC iPlayer in association with Screen Yorkshire. Cineflix Rights is the exclusive worldwide distribution partner.
Tom Misselbrook, senior VP scripted development at Cineflix Rights, said: “Virdee’s” ‘high-octane storytelling is proving a real hit with viewers, we’re thrilled to see further momentum for the series with these Mipcom sales.”
The deal with Canal+ was brokered by Lucy Rawson, VP, sales, Benelux, CEE, and Southern Mediterranean at Cineflix Rights. The deals with SVT and Britbox were brokered by Sandra Piha, senior VP sales, pan-regional, U.K., Ireland and Scandinavia. The deal with Filmin was brokered by Sabrina Ayala, sales consultant, Iberia, Italy, French-speaking Europe and French Canada; and the deal with the BBC was brokered by Chris Bluett, senior VP, sales, Asia Pacific.