STV has secured its first Netflix commission.
The Glasgow television group’s burgeoning productions arm, STV Studios, is to produce a three-part drama series for the streaming giant.
The Witness will be based on the 1992 murder of Rachel Nickell on Wimbledon Common. Her son Alex, just three weeks from his third birthday, was the only witness.
The drama is being adapted from the memoir and experiences of Alex and his father, Andre Hanscombe.
READ MORE: STV chief quits after 'huge privilege' of Glasgow firm
The series is written by Rob Williams, creator and writer of The Victim and Screw, both also made by STV Studios. Filming will begin this summer, with both Alex and Andre Hanscombe consultants to the series.
David Mortimer, managing director of STV Studios, said: "This is STV Studios first commission for Netflix, and we very much look forward to collaborating with them on this project, which our experienced and committed drama team will produce with the utmost sensitivity and care that it deserves."
STV Studios recently confirmed new drama commissions for its majority owned label, Two Cities Television, Amadeus for Sky and a third and fourth series of police drama Blue Lights for BBC One. A further high-end drama, Criminal Record, produced by TOD Productions and STV Studios, launched on AppleTV+ in January to critical acclaim.
STV underlined the growing importance of the Studios business to the company when it published its financial results for 2023 earlier this month. It reported that STV Studios had seen revenue increase to £66.8 million from £23.7m as it secured 58 new commissions, up 28 on 2022.
The productions arm produced 68 series in 2023 and completed the “transformative” acquisition of Greenbird Media for an initial £21.4m in July.
Overall, pre-tax profits at STV fell by 69% to £5.3m in 2023 as total advertising revenue fell by 12% to £97.3m. However, it said the outlook for advertising this year was "improving".
The station announced that Simon Pitts would be stepping down as chief executive after six years at the helm. It then emerged that he would be joining media and entertainment giant Global, owner of radio stations Capital, Heart, Classic FM, Smooth, and Radio X, as its next chief executive.
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