The best of British drama keeps rolling to South African audiences with the terrific new spy drama Bodyguard that got picked up by Netflix while M-Net grabbed the sumptuous Vanity Fair period drama.
The rights to Britain's biggest new TV hit of the year, the spy drama Bodyguard has been snapped up by Netflix that will make Bodyguard available globally on Netflix including on Netflix SA in South Africa from 24 October, except for the United Kingdom, Ireland and China.
The 6-episode Bodyguard shown on the BBC in the United Kingdom is produced by the independent production company World Productions, owned by ITV, and was written by Jed Mercurio, the creator of Line of Duty, who was also the executive producer.
The riveting Bodyguard has kept British viewers on the edge of their seats in the story following the private protection officer David Budd (Richard Madden) from the Royalty and Specialist Protection Branch of London’s Metropolitan Police Service who is tasked with protecting the fictional British Home Secretary Julia Montague (Keeley Hawes).
He is opposed to her politics but falls in love with her after, which a racy, sexual relationship ensues while conspiracies swirl around them.
Meanwhile South African viewers will also soon get to see Vanity Fair, a co-production with Amazon, with the miniseries that has been show in the same timeslot in the UK on ITV, as Bodyguard on the BBC.
Vanity Fair however won't be on Amazon Prime Video in South Africa and Africa but on M-Net (DStv 101) that continues to rake in high-quality international drama series made outside of the United States to strengthen the content offering on MultiChoice's most premium channel on DStv.
Like Downton Abbey, Vanity Fair that is scheduled for a November starting date on M-Net, is a beautiful TV set piece based on William Makepeace Thackeray's 1848 novel about the poor but constantly scheming Becky Sharp (Olivia Cooke) looking for love and a life of luxury, astutely climbing the British social ladder.
The colourful 19th century era story is produced by Mammoth Screen, also an independent production company owned by ITV.
The international distribution of both Bodyguard and Vanity Fair is handled by ITV Studios Global Entertainment.
