Chris O’Dowd Talks Bringing Hollywood to Ireland in Meta Comedy ‘Small Town Big Story’ and His Cameo in the Series (EXCLUSIVE) →

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Ireland has long been home to many major Hollywood productions, but an upcoming comedy series goes a little meta, turning the focus on the chaos that ensues when an actual big-budget Hollywood TV show comes to a small Irish town. 

“Small Town Big Story” — Sky Studios, Playground, FilmNation and Hot Cod Productions — was written and directed by Chris O’Dowd and stars Christina Hendricks and Paddy Considine.

The six-part series — due to premiere in the U.K. and Ireland next year and now heading to Mipcom — is set in the fictional town of Drumbán, a rural village of misfits on the border of Ireland. But when a major Hollywood film rolls into town, it throws the spotlight on a secret that’s been kept hidden since the eve of the millennium. 

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Masterpiece Hit ‘All Creatures Great and Small’ Renewed for Seasons 5 and 6 →

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“All Creatures Great and Small” has been renewed for Seasons 5 and 6, Masterpiece on PBS announced. Each season will include six episodes, in addition to Christmas specials.

Colin Callender CBE, executive producer and CEO of Playground said of the show’s renewal, “Kindness and decency are increasingly rare qualities these days, so it is a blessing to be able to return to the sanctuary of Skeldale House and James Herriot’s beloved characters who represent all that is the best in us. There are no villains in ‘All Creatures’ — just everyday folk trying to get through the day with dignity with the help of a supportive community, family and friends. It’s a lesson for modern times.”

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Christina Hendricks, Paddy Considine to Star in Chris O’Dowd’s Sky Drama ‘Small Town, Big Story’ →

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Christina Hendricks and “House of the Dragon’s” Paddy Considine have been tapped to lead “Small Town, Big Story,” a new Sky Studios drama from Chris O’Dowd.

O’Dowd (“State of the Union”) created and will direct the six-part dramatic comedy, which tells the story of the effect on a small Irish village when a Hollywood production begins shooting on its doorstep and rattled residents struggle to keep a long-buried secret under wraps.

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Variety 500 - Colin Callender →

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Callender originally mounted “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” as a two-night, five-hour-plus stage spectacular in 2018, but when he returned the show to Broadway’s Lyric Theatre in December 2021, the version for post pandemic had been pared down to a still spectacular three and a half hours. That “single play” version has since opened in Melbourne, Toronto and Tokyo, while the original two-parter continued on in Hamburg, Germany, and London’s West End. An Emmy winner for 1982’s “The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby,” Callender in 2022 launched new seasons of TV shows he produced: “Dangerous Liaisons” (Starz), starring Lesley Manville and Carice van Houten; Peter Kosminsky’s “The Undeclared War” (Peacock/Channel 4), with Simon Pegg and Mark Rylance; and James Herriot’s “All Creatures Great and Small” (Masterpiece on PBS/Channel 5).  

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Hilary Mantel’s ‘The Mirror and the Light’ BBC Adaptation Will Continue as a ‘Memorial’ to Great British Author (EXCLUSIVE) →

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At the time of her untimely death, British author Hilary Mantel was consulting on the TV adaptation of her most recent novel, “The Mirror and the Light” — the conclusion to her critically acclaimed Tudor trilogy that began with “Wolf Hall.”

The two-time Booker Prize-winning author’s sudden death at 70 was announced on Friday by her publishers, sending shockwaves among her fans and the literary and TV industries — but especially her inner circle of collaborators who were in constant touch with Mantel.

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‘All Creatures Great and Small’ Renewed for Seasons 3 and 4 at PBS Masterpiece, Channel 5 →

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“All Creatures Great and Small,” the wholesome reboot of the popular British veterinarian drama, is returning for Seasons 3 and 4.

U.K. broadcaster Channel 5 and PBS Masterpiece in the U.S. have officially signed on for two more seasons of the Playground-produced drama. Each season will get a 6-episode order, along with a Christmas special. PBS Masterpiece, which will debut Season 2 on Sunday (Jan. 9), is co-producing along with distributor All3Media International selling the series globally.

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‘Hoop Dreams’ Scripted Drama Set as Lena Waithe’s First Project in New Warner Bros. TV Deal →

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Lena Waithe’s Hillman Grad Productions — the company the actor/writer/producer founded with Rishi Rajani — now has an exclusive, multi-year deal with Warner Bros. Television Group. At WBTVG, Waithe and Rajani will develop television projects for, according to the announcement, “all platforms, including WarnerMedia’s HBO Max, external streaming services, cable and the five broadcast networks.”

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Playground Developing Adaptation of ‘The Last of the Mohicans’ Novels for the BBC →

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“Wolf Hall” producer Playground is developing a series for the BBC based on James Fenimore Cooper’s historical series of novels known collectively as the “Leatherstocking Tales,” which includes “The Last of the Mohicans.”

Playground, run by former HBO exec Colin Callender, is working on a pilot script for the project, which is being set up as a returning series. “The Last of the Mohicans” is the second and most famous of Fenimore Cooper’s five-book series and has been adapted for the big screen several times, including the 1992 film by Michael Mann starring Daniel Day-Lewis.

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