ZDF Enterprises has sold Acorn TV’s drama “Queens of Mystery” (3x90’ or 6x45’) to numerous clients, including Sky Germany, All Media Baltics (Lithuania), ITV International Channels, LTV (Latvia), bTV (Bulgaria), MEGOGO and OKKO (Russia and CIS), ProSiebenSat1 as well as several vod platforms such as Amazon, iTunes and Google.
Acorn Media Enterprises had commissioned “Queens of Mystery” from Sly Fox Productions in association with Ferncroft Media for Acorn TV, North America’s largest streaming service for British and international television. Created for television by writer Julian Unthank (Doc Martin, New Tricks), the first series of “Queens of Mystery” has already made its North American premiere as an Acorn TV Original. The U.S. launch was accompanied with recommendations by the Sunday New York Times and Sunday Los Angeles Times (‘a surefire crowd-pleaser: a cheery mystery series’), as well as Woman’s World Magazine and News Talk Florida (“a masterpiece… The storyline is very fun, the acting is brilliant, and it is the most original mystery series that I have seen in years.”).
“Queens of Mystery” follows a perennially single female Detective Sergeant (Matilda Stone) and her three aunts (Cat, Beth and Jane), who are well-known crime writers that help her solve whodunit style murders as well as set her up on blind dates. In addition to her weekly murder investigations, Mattie is also preoccupied by the fact that her mother Eleanor disappeared without a trace when Mattie was three. The continuing mystery of Eleanor’s disappearance will haunt the central characters throughout forthcoming seasons.
Noted theatre and television actress Olivia Vinall (The Woman in White, Apple Tree Yard, Maigret) stars as Matilda Stone, while her aunts are played by Julie Graham (The Bletchley Circle, Shetland) as her rebellious Aunt Cat; Sarah Woodward (The Politician’s Husband, New Blood) as her motherly Aunt Beth; and Siobhan Redmond (Alfresco, Between the Lines) as book smart Aunt Jane. They are joined by Andrew Leung (Doctor Who) as the dashing Dr. Daniel Lynch; Rebecca Grant (Doctors, Holby City) as Daniel’s mean-spirited girlfriend Natasha; Michael Elcock as Police Constable Terry Foster who has long been in love with Matilda; and Martin Trenaman (The Inbetweeners) as the dry Inspector Derek Throne. Lead director of the series is Ian Emes (Deadly Summer, The Invisible Man).
ZDF Enterprises handles the worldwide distribution of “Queens of Mystery” outside English-speaking territories, which are handled by Acorn Media International. This is the second cooperation of ZDF Enterprises and Acorn Media Enterprises, Acorn TV’s UK-based development division, after the distribution contract on the drama series “London Kills”, written by Paul Marquess, Sarah-Louise Hawkins, Jake Riddell, Sally Tatchell (Skins), and Claire Fryer.
Related News
