{"id":289917,"date":"2026-02-18T12:24:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T12:24:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/289917\/"},"modified":"2026-02-18T12:24:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T12:24:10","slug":"itv-studios-unveils-london-tv-screenings-slate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/289917\/","title":{"rendered":"ITV Studios Unveils London TV Screenings Slate"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tITV Studios<\/a> has unveiled its London TV Screenings<\/a> slate, with a Graham Norton<\/a>-hosted reality show, two drama series from Ben Stephenson\u2019s Poison Pen Studios, and a new drama series from Russell T. Davies among the headliners.<\/p>\n

\n\tAmong the star names attached are Dominic Cooper, Romola Garai, Mia Wasikowska, Alan Cumming, Abbie Cornish, Dougray Scott and Luke Evans.<\/p>\n

\n\tVariety spoke to Tom Clark, executive VP global sales and commercial strategy, about the slate, which includes six new formats and 12 fresh dramas, as well as 21 returners among the dramas, and 34 non-scripted titles. Some 750 international buyers will be attending the slate presentation, titled \u201cITV Studios Festivals,\u201d on Feb. 25 at Odeon Leicester Square, London.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWhat we\u2019re looking to do is to maintain an eclectic international offering for a global market,\u201d Clark says. \u201cSo, as ever, we\u2019ve gone for scale and breadth of the slate. We\u2019ve got everything from contemporary relationship drama to cat-and-mouse crime to action thriller, all the way to a new survival format, glossy reality and cooking, and plenty in the natural history and non-scripted space.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tHe adds, \u201cAll of that is brought together by the wonderfully talented in-house ITV Studios\u2019 production companies, such as World Productions, Mammoth Screen, Plimsoll Productions, Poison Pen and Quay Street. But we\u2019ve also bolstered the slate with a couple of third-party producers, which includes Various Artists and Helium Pictures.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe have a slate which is rich with escapism and rich with entertainment. It\u2019s all about being thrilling but also fun. We\u2019re going for broad, cross-generational appeal, and we have intentionally invested in content which is travelable and appeals to streamers and broadcasters alike. Because we are, to all intents and purposes, agnostic. Our job is to find the best homes for the best content.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u2018The Neighbourhood\u2019
The formats slate is filled with new reality shows such as \u201cThe Neighbourhood.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThis has made a big splash, provoking lots and lots of curiosity, not least because it\u2019s hosted by the BAFTA award-winning Graham Norton, and it\u2019s produced by Lifted Entertainment and The Garden, who respectively brought us \u2018I\u2019m a Celebrity\u2026,\u2019 \u2018Love Island\u2019 and \u2018Squid Game: The Challenge,\u2019\u201d Clark says.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cSo \u2018The Neighbourhood\u2019 is a super fun reality format, which is where six households move into this charming, purpose-built community. They live side by side, but they are competing around the clock, 24\/7, for this life-changing cash prize. So, each of the households must win challenges, but they\u2019ve also got to stay popular enough that they survive, and if they\u2019re voted out, then they have the disadvantage of a removal van coming to their homes and they get whisked away. So, it\u2019s big entertainment right on the doorstep. It\u2019s instantly relatable and authentic, and obviously Graham brings that star quality to the U.K. version.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\u201cThe Heat\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCourtesy of ITV Studios<\/p>\n

\n\t\u2018The Heat\u2019
Next up is reality format \u201cThe Heat,\u201d produced by Twofour. The show launches on Feb. 24 on ITV2.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cAgain, there\u2019s a lot of interest for the show already brewing from within Europe and the Americas, because it ticks a lot of boxes,\u201d Clark says. \u201cIt\u2019s set in a real restaurant in sun-drenched Barcelona where a group of young chefs battle it out under the supervision of a world-class Michelin chef. The chefs are working together during the day and they\u2019re competing, but they\u2019re also living together at night; so they\u2019re working hard and they\u2019re partying hard. And what that means, of course, is the kind of the stress and the ambition for winning the cooking contest meets the relationships and the night lives that go alongside of that. What you then see is the romances, the rivalries, the flirtations, the fallouts \u2013 they all make their way back into the kitchen in the daytime.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt\u2019s hosted by Olivia Attwood, and the U.K. version has chef Jean-Christophe Novelli as the boss, and what you\u2019ve got is this high-end cooking and dating show all merging together. It\u2019s very aspirational, very glossy and escapist.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\u201cApocalypse\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCourtesy of ITV Studios<\/p>\n

\n\t\u2018Apocalypse\u2019
\u201cApocalypse\u201d is produced by The Garden for Channel 4 and ITV Studios Australia for Foxtel Binge. It is described as a bold social experiment.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt\u2019s a survival show, but not as we know it. It\u2019s really all about our collective curiosity about the end of the world. So the premise is that if the worst things happen, the fight for survival won\u2019t be in the jungle or in the desert, it\u2019ll be in the towns and cities where we live. So when it comes to it, can we survive the end of the world?\u201d Clark asks.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe idea is that 16 people will try their luck at doing just that. They must survive in an urban landscape for 28 days, where there\u2019s no running water, there\u2019s no heating, there\u2019s no electricity, and of course, equally as important as the resources is, in fact, the interpersonal relationships that they form between them.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt\u2019s ordinary people trying to survive an extraordinary circumstance and doing extraordinary things to achieve that. So it\u2019s a little different, it\u2019s funny, it\u2019s hopeful, and it\u2019s a really good example of how these two labels have come together to create something spectacular.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\u201cTwo Weeks in August\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCourtesy of ITV Studios<\/p>\n

\n\tSCRIPTED SHOWS
\u2018Two Weeks in August\u2019
The scripted slate is led by the forthcoming hot drama from the award-winning producers of \u201cI May Destroy You,\u201d \u201cTwo Weeks in August,\u201d produced by Various Artists Limited for BBC, in association with ITV Studios. It is written and created by Catherine Shepherd.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt\u2019s a very gripping story about a group of friends who go on this fabulous two-week holiday to an idyllic Greek villa, but an impulsive kiss on the first night turns the vacation into something of a nightmare,\u201d Clark says.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThat\u2019s the log line, but the reality is, it\u2019s much more about the central character, a lady called Zoe, who\u2019s played by Jessica Raine. She is a people pleaser. She\u2019s a devoted wife, a mother and a carer. She always puts everybody else first, but the story is really about what happens when she puts herself first and she acts on her deepest desires, and it creates this angry self-awakening with explosive consequences.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cSo it\u2019s really about marriage and friendships and secrets and betrayals and moral certainties that start to unravel when you challenge yourself.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThis is smart, darkly funny and very addictive. There are parties, boat trips and wildfires, and ultimately it ends up in a full-scale survival scenario.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u2018The Rapture\u2019
The scripted slate also includes the psychological thriller \u201cThe Rapture,\u201d which is adapted from Liz Jensen\u2019s bestselling novel. It is produced by Mammoth Screen for BBC.<\/p>\n

\n\tClark sets out the story, \u201cThe teenager Bethany, who\u2019s played by India Amarteifio, is convicted of the most heinous crime of all, murdering her own mum, and she\u2019s placed onto a psychiatric ward. Meanwhile, a forensic psychologist Gabs, acted by Ruth Madeley, suffers from a life-changing spinal injury in a car accident, resulting in her becoming a wheelchair user. And these two characters meet as Gabs is assigned to Bethany\u2019s case.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tQuestions start to be raised: Did Bethany really kill her own mom? And if she didn\u2019t, who did? And if so, why?<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThere are other layers to the story. So, Bethany professes to see the future, and so there\u2019s a question mark as to whether she is a manipulator, or whether there\u2019s any truth to that. And there\u2019s an ensuing cat-and-mouse drama that plays out between these wonderful two female leads. It\u2019s also set against the backdrop of a climate emergency, and there\u2019s a wider plot surrounding Bethany\u2019s father and the connections between him and an oil company.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThere are cliffhangers at every turn. It\u2019s very, very enthralling. It\u2019s full of human stories, resilience, science and faith, and winning in the face of disability, in the case of Gabs.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt\u2019s bingeable. There\u2019s a serialised urgency, but it\u2019s also contemporary and deep.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe cast also includes Sam Hazeldine, Jack Farthing, Iwan Rheon and Ruth Jones.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u2018The Dark\u2019
Also new is crime thriller \u201cThe Dark,\u201d produced by Ben Stephenson\u2019s Poison Pen Studios for ITV. It is based on G.R. Halliday\u2019s hit series of Detective Inspector Monica Kennedy novels.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201c\u2019The Dark\u2019 is a new crime franchise in the making. It\u2019s an iconic cat-and-mouse crime thriller. It opens with a ritualistically staged murder of a young man who\u2019s discovered in the remote Scottish Highlands. So you can imagine the scenery of this is utterly stunning.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe killings that are then revealed are happening nightly. So there\u2019s a real urgency and intensity as the detectives \u2013 Monica Kennedy, who\u2019s played by Laura Donnelly, and her partner, who\u2019s played by Mark Rowley, are on accelerated timings to catch the killer, all with the backdrop of these stunning crime scenes. So, you can see how this one has the legs to become a very long-standing franchise,\u201d Clark says.<\/p>\n

\n\tAlso from Poison Pen Studios is \u201cAdultery,\u201d again for ITV, and penned by acclaimed screenwriter Danny Brocklehurst. It stars Dominic Cooper, best known for \u201cMamma Mia!,\u201d and Romola Garai, who\u2019s in the currently airing show \u201cBetrayal,\u201d which ITV Studios also has.<\/p>\n

\n\tClark says, \u201cThis is about when you meet someone, and you can\u2019t deny the passion, and it\u2019s even more messy when your children are dating each other. So, this is about when undeniable attraction catches you off guard, but also the enormous consequences of following that urge and that feeling, and the consequences of that for the families around you, however innocent your intent is.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt\u2019s beautifully acted, and very provocative and glossy. It\u2019s also got that multi-generational storyline. So we think this one attracts a wider demo than the standard shows, and the pace makes it a real appointment to view.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe series also stars Shelley Conn and Matthew McNulty.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u2018The Killings at Parrish Station\u2019
Also new to the scripted slate is \u201cThe Killings at Parrish Station,\u201d from Helium Pictures for STAN in Australia, a series which sees cold case crime and thriller collide, with an all-star cast including Mia Wasikowska, Heather Mitchell, Xavier Samuel, Robert Taylor and Alan Dale.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt\u2019s a high-end event thriller, blending crime, conspiracy and horror, which follows a gruesome massacre of four scientists at a remote research station in 1987. These murders wrecked a lot of lives, and created a riddle as to how they came about. The story is set across two time zones: the initial murders in 1987, but then the same thing happens 37 years later. So, the same people try to figure out why that happened. It\u2019s very novel. It\u2019s unlike anything we\u2019ve seen before. It\u2019s dark, sometimes a little bit crazy, and there\u2019s a shocking twist. It\u2019s really captivating, and set in a very cinematic desert scenery.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u2018Tip Toe\u2019
From the multi-award-winning screenwriter and producer Russell T. Davies, and the team behind hit series \u201cIt\u2019s a Sin,\u201d \u201cTip Toe,\u201d from Quay Street Productions for Channel 4, is a new original drama which follows Leo and Clive who live next door to each other in Manchester. It stars Alan Cumming and David Morrissey.<\/p>\n

\n\tLeo runs a bar on Canal Street, Clive\u2019s an electrician, with two teenage sons. But just as life should be settling down, the world around them is growing more tense. Words become weapons, opinions become radicalized, and gradually, two neighbors become deadly enemies.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt\u2019s an urban thriller that is essentially a sequel to \u2018It\u2019s a Sin,\u2019\u201d Clark says. \u201cThe show is talking to some of the bigger issues in society, but done on a very specific and human level. I think Russell T. Davies naturally brings a levity and wit, but ultimately, it\u2019s about real people with real feelings and concerns, around a very credible plot, which is about relationships and privilege and loyalty, and how those issues sit side by side.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u2018Invisible\u2019
Also new to the slate is the action-packed drama series \u201cInvisible,\u201d from Scene 23 for M-Net, adapted by Amy Jephta from Deon Meyer\u2019s novel \u201cBlood Safari.\u201d It stars Abbie Cornish, Dougray Scott and Tim Theron.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn South Africa\u2019s Kruger National Park, a mysterious killer begins executing local poachers. As the body count rises, Inspector Jack Phatudi is drawn into a dangerous manhunt to unmask the vigilante. At the same time, Dekker \u2013 a former bodyguard with a haunted past \u2013 is hired to protect Emma, a South African expat who returns home to search for her brother who she believes is still alive, despite his disappearance 30 years ago. When Phatudi\u2019s investigation collides with Emma and Dekker\u2019s quest, they uncover a buried conspiracy reaching back to the political assassination of a pivotal African leader. As powerful forces close in, all three are forced to confront an explosive truth \u2013 one that could rewrite history, and that others will kill to keep hidden.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\u201cThe Party\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCourtesy of ITV Studios<\/p>\n

\n\t\u2018The Party\u2019
\u201cThe Party,\u201d from World Productions for ITV, is a smart, suspenseful thriller based on the bestselling novel by author Elizabeth Day, and starring Luke Evans as Martin Gilmour, a journalist shaped by his lifelong friendship with wealthy and charismatic politician Ben Fitzmaurice, played by Tom Cullen.<\/p>\n

\n\tRaised alone by his working-class mom, Sylvia, portrayed by BAFTA award-winning Joanna Scanlan, Martin wins a scholarship to an elite boarding school, where he first meets Ben. They forge an unbreakable bond, as Ben and the Fitzmaurice family give Martin the sense of belonging he always craved. In turn, Martin remains unflinchingly loyal to Ben and his family through even the greatest crises.<\/p>\n

\n\tThree decades on, Martin is invited to Ben\u2019s lavish birthday party as news of the resignation of the leader of his political party threatens to accelerate Ben\u2019s intention to stand and run for Prime Minister. But Martin fears the publicity that Ben\u2019s bid would bring, dredging up the secrets of their past with tragic consequences.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe drama, written by and co-starring Sarah Solemani, with an ensemble cast also including Lydia Leonard, Douglas Hodge and Lindsay Duncan, moves between the shocking events of the party itself, and the police investigation that follows, with flashbacks to Martin and Ben\u2019s past life at school, university and beyond.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhat unfolds is a gripping exploration of identity, privilege and devotion.<\/p>\n

\n\tNON-SCRIPTED SLATE
The non-scripted slate offers an exploration of the world around us with two landmark natural history series.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cForce of Nature,\u201d from Plimsoll Productions for ITV and ARD in Germany, formerly entitled \u201cExtreme Earth,\u201d is a groundbreaking series filmed over three years, revealing how nature is fighting back against today\u2019s extreme weather. Witness the scale and ferocity of nature\u2019s most powerful forces \u2013 from hurricanes and flash floods to droughts and bushfires \u2013 and discover the ingenious ways nature endures, adapts and prevails against these new extremes.<\/p>\n

\n\tThrough the eyes of heroic animal characters, the series shows how the natural world is rising to the challenge.<\/p>\n

\n\tAlso on the slate is \u201cAges of Ice,\u201d produced by Northern Pictures for PBS and ABC Australia, which follows the scientists pushing the boundaries of exploration and human endeavor in Earth\u2019s coldest corners to understand the changes of ice and what this means for our planet\u2019s future. In the unforgiving grip of our planet\u2019s polar regions, the series will follow these modern-day explorers as they try to understand how the fate of every place and every creature on our planet is tied to these frozen extremes.<\/p>\n

\n\tNew to the slate is \u201cAI Confidential,\u201d from Curious Films for BBC, about the untold stories of AI and its potential impact on the modern world.<\/p>\n

\n\tAs the show\u2019s presenter, broadcaster and mathematician Prof. Hannah Fry will meet the people whose lives have been impacted by this technology in huge ways \u2013 from falling in love with an AI chatbot, to life and death decisions made by robots, to the people whose lives have been upended by Silicon Valley corporations.<\/p>\n

\n\tTaking a deep-dive into some of the most extraordinary human stories emerging from the world of AI, meeting key individuals whose lives have been transformed by this new technology for better or for worse, and investigating everything from \u201cgrief tech\u201d to driverless cars, the new series will see Fry grapple with some of the most important questions of our time.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe slate also offers a new criminal history series, \u201cMurder Map,\u201d produced by Two Rivers and Soho Studios.<\/p>\n

\n\tStar of \u201cLine of Duty\u201d and \u201cTrigger Point,\u201d Vicky McClure and husband Jonny Owen, a filmmaker and historian, travel the U.K. exploring historic, culturally significant crimes that have changed the face of modern Britain.<\/p>\n

\n\tFrom unsolved murders, to miscarriages of justice or milestone cases that have changed the law, each episode features McClure and Owen doing a deep dive into each case speaking to victims\u2019 families, experts, historians and police officers to investigate the lasting impact each murder has left on the community.<\/p>\n

\n\tAlso on the non-scripted slate is \u201cUnbreakable: The Jelena Dokic Story,\u201d from Roadshow Productions for Nine Network.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cUnbreakable\u201d is not just a tennis story. It\u2019s the story of Jelena Dokic\u2019s survival, of her overcoming extraordinary odds, and of her ultimate triumph in the face of poverty, bullying and extreme brutality. It\u2019s about how she survived as a refugee, twice. How she survived on the tennis court as she ascended to become world No.4. But most importantly, how she survived the abuse by Damir Dokic, her violent father and coach. It\u2019s a story of growing up \u2013 never being alone, but always lonely. Ultimately, it\u2019s the story of how the tennis world and a nation of fans chose to look away when Jelena needed them most.<\/p>\n

\n\tAnd finally, hosted by the BAFTA award-winning television presenter Claudia Winkleman, is her new chat show \u201cThe Claudia Winkleman Show\u201d from So Television for BBC.<\/p>\n

\n\tFrom the production company behind the hugely successful and multi award-winning \u201cThe Graham Norton Show,\u201d each episode will see Winkleman, who is best known for co-presenting \u201cStrictly Come Dancing\u201d and hosting \u201cThe Traitors\u201d in the U.K., welcome the biggest names from the worlds of film, television, music and beyond to her sofa for lively conversation with the help of a studio audience.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ITV Studios has unveiled its London TV Screenings slate, with a Graham Norton-hosted reality show, two drama series…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":289918,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[156,36309,47374,160881,111,139,69,437],"class_list":{"0":"post-289917","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-graham-norton","10":"tag-itv-studios","11":"tag-london-tv-screenings","12":"tag-new-zealand","13":"tag-newzealand","14":"tag-nz","15":"tag-tv"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/289917","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=289917"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/289917\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/289918"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=289917"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=289917"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=289917"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}