EXCLUSIVE: BBC Studios has launched a high-end drama label led by Good Omens EP Josh Cole.
Cole becomes Chief Creative Officer of BBC Studios Fiction and will simultaneously continue running BBC Studios Comedy Productions. He has hired Time execs Andrew Morrissey and Michael Parke as Creative Directors to help steer BBC Studios Fiction, which will be based out of London, Liverpool and Glasgow. Morrissey and Parke are bringing their current slate of projects with them and their BBC Studios-backed River Pictures indie has been shuttered.
The idea for BBC Studios Fiction had been percolating for some time, Cole told us, and is a response to a market in which scripted shows with comedic elements such as Death Valley, Ludwig, Black Ops and Good Omens are performing well, some of which are made by BBC Studios Comedy Productions.
“This is an evolution and expansion of what we’re already doing,” he said. “We are taking the ambition and spirit of what we do at BBC Studios Comedy and broadening our creative horizons into high-end drama. We want to be the home for a new generation of drama writers who have something to say about the world.”
Cole said more and more producers have been pitching drama ideas to his team of late, while the move is also a response to the “pace and ambition” of the work his team is producing.
Cole said BBC Studios Fiction kicks off with a “tasty slate of projects” from Morrisey and Parke, who have made their name with harder hitting shows than Cole’s usual fare such as BAFTA-winning prison drama Time. “Time is an incredible show that doesn’t feel like something that BBC Studios Comedy would make but is the kind of show we would love to be making at [BBC Studios] Fiction,” Cole said.
At the same time, shows like the BBC and BritBox’s Death Valley, which has just been renewed for a second season, are punching above their weight, having recently become the most-watched BBC scripted comedy debut in five years. The Timothy Spall-starring mystery series follows the unlikely crime-solving partnership between eccentric national treasure John Chapel (Spall) and socially obtuse Detective Sergeant Janie Mallowan (Gwyneth Keyworth).
“[Death Valley] creator Paul Doolan is such a skilled mystery writer but with his background in comedy you can feel the comedic bones in his scripts,” said Cole. “A lot of top drama writers have comedy roots and a lot of people’s favorite shows are often somewhere between genres or seamlessly balancing different tones. If you look at Succession or Industry, these are smart, character-driven dramas that are properly witty.”
Cole said his new division will be “complementary” to BBC Studios Drama Productions, which is run by Kate Oates and makes long-running, continuing and returning series like Casualty, Silent Witness and the upcoming The Detection Club, all for the BBC. “Fiction is intended and designed to add scale and coherence to our high-end offering,” added Cole. BBC Studios also owns a wealth of drama indies including Baby Reindeer producer Clerkenwell Films, Steve Coogan’s Baby Cow and Happy Valley maker Lookout Point.
Cole will work closely with BBC Studios Productions boss Zai Bennett and BBC Studios’ new scripted MD when that person is appointed. Siân O’Callaghan, currently Director of Production for Drama, will also become Director of Production for BBC Studios Fiction and Comedy – now overseeing the strategic and business planning of all BBC Studios non-label scripted shows.
Getting into business with Tom Basden
Tom Basden in ‘Here We Go’. Image: BBC/BBC Studios/Kevin Baker
Striking talent deals is another modus operandi for BBC Studios Fiction and Cole revealed the nascent label’s first partnership is with Tom Basden, the creator of BBC comedy sleeper hit Here We Go, another BBC Studios show.
Double-BAFTA nominee Basden’s first look and co-producing partnership with BBC Studios runs until May 2027 and Cole said he is developing “one or two things that are unexpected in the best possible way.” He praised the “exceptional” Basden’s ability to keep his comedy grounded, which wills out in Here We Go, a fun family comedy in which Basden stars alongside Alison Steadman, Katherine Parkinson and Jim Howick.
“Audiences find it very refreshing now to watch a show set not on a billionaire’s yacht but in a semi-detached house in [the English town of] Bedford,” added Cole.
Going forwards, Cole said BBC Studios Fiction will explore more development deals but will be selective, opting for quality over quantity. Another deal that he said the world will soon see the fruits of is BBC Studios’ tie-up with BAFTA-winning Stath Lets Flats creator Jamie Demetriou, who starred in Barbie and whose stock continues to rise. BBC Studios and Demetriou recently made Netflix’s A Whole Lifetime with Jamie Demetriou together. “Every decade has a few of these performers who define a new era in British comedy and Jamie is one of those rare once in a generation talents,” added Cole.
Cole said BBC Studios Fiction will look to make shows for the American streamers but they will likely be few and far between and the main target remains British broadcasters or co-produced pieces.
‘Good Omens’ finale
Josh Cole. Image: BBC
His most high-profile streaming show of recent years has been Prime Video’s Good Omens but all has not been well in recent times with the show following allegations made against creator Neil Gaiman, allegations that Gaiman denies but led him to step back from the show and for the final season to morph into one concluding 90-minute episode.
Last week, Good Omens star Michael Sheen raised doubts over the finale when he told an Edinburgh TV Festival audience that it will “hopefully” air, but Cole is more confident, revealing that post-production is nearly finished and premiere date is expected next year. We have asked Amazon for confirmation.
“I’m proud of everyone who worked hard on Season 3 in incredibly difficult circumstances,” said Cole. “Knowing what Good Omens means to the fandom really drove us forward and the finale is very much for them.”
Going forwards, Cole, a former Sky comedy commissioner who has worked with Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Martin Freeman and Jack Whitehall, is enthused by the current state of the comedy landscape.
“I think it’s in very strong shape,” he added. “We had that post-Fleabag era and the ‘classic sitcoms’ era but there’s no defining trend at the moment, which is quite a good thing because it means there are less copycat shows.”
He praised the BBC for being the “bedrock of the comedy industry” but shouted out rival broadcasters ITV and Channel 4 for making more comedy than ever. His team just landed Break Clause for the latter, a flatshare comedy from Jess Bray, who Cole likened to a “young Phoebe Waller-Bridge.”
