Banijay Entertainment is set to unveil one of the biggest and broadest of lineups at the 2026 London TV Screenings, led by a duo of powerful U.K. dramas – the Brenda Blethyn starring “A Woman of Substance” and “Falling,” from “Adolescence” co-creator Jack Thorne – and ever more timely soccer reality show “Football Island.”
The showcase will unroll once more at BAFTA 195 Piccadilly, on Wednesday Feb. 25, across two dedicated sessions – AM and PM.
Anything written by Jack Thorne, now making headlines with Netflix bagging U.S. rights to “Lord of the Flies,” is highly thoughtful and often deeply moving: Think Series Mania top prize winner “The Virtues.” As an added enticement, “Falling” weighs in as his first love story.
Elsewhere, in some of its biggest scripted plays, Banijay brings either a modern mindset or a robustly modern setting and makeover to some huge scripted TV IPs.
A second show from The Forge, and one of the biggest Banijay titles to be presented at the London TV Screenings, “A Woman of Substance,” marks a brand new adaptation of Barbara Taylor Bradford’s same-titled novel which sold over 30 million copies worldwide while a Channel 4 mini-series makeover in 1984 gave it 13.8 million viewers, its biggest audience ever.
With “Wallander” and “Half Man,” these are awaited high-profile premium scripted plays, to be presented in London, along with a slew of returning seasons.
Banijay’s catalog, whether talked up or not in London, takes in of course a swathe of other top fiction shows, such as “Peaky Blinders,” returning to the screen with two six-part series produced by Kudos and Garrison Drama for BBC iPlayer and BBC One in the U.K. and for Netflix globally, and some highly attractive non-English language plays. One case in point here is Sweden’s “My Brother,” from Filmlance, a psychological mystery drama set in the snows of Sweden which has just been selected for the prestigious main competition at France’s Series Mania, Europe’s biggest TV festival.
Much of Banijay Entertainment’s newer action on display at the London TV Screenings will be taking place in formats, where the independent behemoth announced Feb. 16 two new swings. It is also acquiring third party titles and launching some shows as key formats scale up, drawing on the company’s muscular international potential.
Banijay Entertainment also has one high-concept soccer-themed contest when football will drive much of the global conversation over the summer. Unveiled at last year’s London TV Screenings, after which it was rapidly commissioned by Videoland in a deal announced at Mipcom, “Football Island,” a survival sport format featuring soccer legends, returns to London when this year’s FIFA World Cup will focus much of the world’s mindset over June-July.
Banijay Entertainment’s LTVS slate also features two just-announced new formats, “How Old Is Your Brain?” a primetime quiz show for France’s M6 from DMLS TV, behind megahit Secret Song” and part of Banijay France, and “Staying Alive,” from EndemolShine Germany for ProSieben and Joyn.
The European production behemoth said Tuesday that it will also highlight in London such reimagined format hits and travelling formats as high-stakes social experiment “Fear Factor: House of Fear” hosted by Johnny Knoxville; Emmy winning “Shaolin Heroes” and influencer-fuelled adventure “Mission Unknown.”
“The London TV Screenings is the perfect stage to spotlight the scale and breadth of our catalogue,” said Cathy Payne, CEO, Banijay Rights. “This year’s line-up reflects the continued global appetite for premium storytelling, with stand-out U.K. dramas sitting alongside hit returning titles which resonate with buyers worldwide. We look forward to welcoming partners back to BAFTA 195 Piccadilly for another exclusive event.”
“From sports-driven reality and comedy-crime entertainment to physical competition formats, we’re turning up the heat at London TV Screenings. We continue to build formats that evolve, travel and resonate in this environment, making waves across networks, platforms and territories; a testament to the creativity and originality born from our global teams,” added James Townley, Chief Content Officer, Development and Lucas Green, Chief Content Officer, Operations at Banijay Entertainment.
Below, a drill-down on Banijay’s biggest drama plays at the Screenings and a selection of factual shows and formats.
Emma Harte, 1970’s, played by Brenda Blethyn
Channel 4/The Forge/Sam Taylor
Scripted
“Falling,”
“Falling” stars Keeley Hawes (“Scoop,” “Miss Austen”) and Paapa Essiedu (“Black Mirror,” “The Lazarus Project”) in a romantic drama where a nun falls in love with a Catholic priest. Both wrestle with what it means for them, their vows, and their relationship with God. “‘Falling’ is a story that has Jack Thorne’s singular talent of mining the sublime out of the ordinary running all the way through,” Essiedu has said .Joe Donaldson (“Peaky Blinders”) produces; Peter Hoar (“It’s A Sin”) lead directs.
“Half Man,”
Making a big splash at October’s Mipcom and set for an HBO U.S. release, “Half Man” marks the latest from “Baby Reindeer” creator-star Richard Gadd who also heads the cast with Jamie Bell (“Rocket Man”) in the tale of two men, close as brothers as teens, now embittered enemies. The series is described as one which captures the wild energy of a changing city – a changing world, even – while asking: What does it mean to be a man? Mam Tor Productions, a Banijay company, produces in association with Thistledown Pictures for the BBC and BBC Scotland and HBO.
“Open Water”
Commissioned by the BBC, an adaptation of Caleb Azumah Nelson’s multi award-winning debut novel of the same titlefrom Mam Tor Productions and B-Side Productions for BBC. An ode to early love adapted by Azumah, tracking the increasingly deep relationship between budding photographer Marcus and dance student Effie.
“These Sacred Vows”
A third-party highlight, in which week-long drinking for an Irish wedding in Spain ends up disastrously with a priest’s death. Told in dazed flashback by screenwriter-director John Butler (“The Outlaws,” Season 3), “Three Sacred Vows” is produced by Treasure Entertainment for Irish public broadcaster RTÉ. Tom Vaughan-Lawlor (“Love/Hate”) Justine Mitchell (“Derry Girls”) and Jason O’Mara (“Agents of Shield) star.
“Two Years Later”
From Australia, romantic dramedy “Two Years Later,” made for Paramount+, is set in Brisbane in a post-pandemic world as thirty-somethings Ryan and Emily test an unexpected relationship across eight dates, picking up two years after their daily bus flirtations which ended when COVID-19 broke out. Major Australian stars Brenton Thwaites (“Pirates of the Caribbean” “Maleficent”) and Phoebe Tonkin (“H2O: Just Add Water”) head the cast.
“Wallander”
A modern-day Swedish-language reboot of the iconic global crime brand which won Kenneth Brannagh a Bafta and helped Nordic drama break out worldwide. Gustaf Skarsgård (“Oppenheimer,” “Vikings”) plays the iconic sleuth across three 90-minute films at 42, divorced and estranged from his daughter. While his father is also slipping away, Wallander’s life seemingly could be unravelling. Still adding key cast and produced by Jarowskij/Yellow Bird, Swedish network TV4 and Banijay Rights. Written by Antonia Pyk (“Beartown”), Josefin Johansson (“Top Dog”) and Jörgen Bergmark (“Huss”) and directed by Molly Hartleb (“Top Dog”).
Magnus Ragnvid / ragnvid.com
“A Woman of Substance”
This time round, Brenda Blethyn (“Vera,” “Pride and Prejudice”) takes the Debra Kerr role as the older Emma Harte, once an impoverished Yorkshire maid, played by Jessica Reynolds (“Kneecap”),who builds from one clothes shop to becoming the richest woman in the world. She is a “daughter, mother, lover, fighter and a 20th century feminist icon who refused to know her ‘place,’’’ in Banijay’s description. Produced for Channel 4, the new version reunites “The Buccaneers” scribes Roanne Bardsley as lead writer and Katherine Jakeways and that series’ helmer John Hardwick as lead director.
Banijay’s London TV Screenings showcase will also feature returning scripted shows “Rogue Heroes” for BBC iPlayer and MGM+ and the final season of “Grantchester” for Masterpiece PBS and ITV; Swedish crime drama “Fallen,” from Banijay company Filmlance, for TV4; “A Remarkable Place to Die” (Screentime New Zealand) for TVNZ, ZDF and Acorn Anonymous (NL Film) for NPO; Blacklight’s “Bergerac” for U and U&Drama and “The One That Got Away” for S4C, and “The Hardacres” produced by Playground for Channel 5.
Factual
“America’s Toughest Jails”
For Discovery and from Lucky 8, the latter behind the incarceration classic “60 Days In.”
“Eva Longoria: Searching for France”
A CNN Original series produced by Longoria’s U.S.-based Hyphenate Media Group and the latest instalment in the host-led culinary travelog franchise. After seasons set in Mexico, Italy and Spain, Longoria explores the origins of French cuisine and its current mix of centuries-old tradition and cutting-edge creativity.
“Mission To Space: With Francis Bourgeois”
Made for Channel 4 by Shine TV, a byword for popular factual TV, social media star Bourgeois endures the rigors of astronaut training, testing if he has the Right Stuff to leave earth. Shine TV produces in association with Untold Studios.
Superbowl Champions
Brought to market at Mipcom by Banijay Rights, making available in international an Emmy-winning documentary collection from NFL Films and Banijay Americas label BD4 which tracks the entire season of every Super Bowl-winning team since 1985.
“Bear Grylls – Wild Reckoning”
Produced for BBC One, BBC Cymru Wales and iPlayer by Wrexham-based Tŷ’r Ddraig, part of Banijay UK’s Workerbee Group, the show sees Bear Grylls attempt to resolve challenged relationships – from feuding families and broken friendships to neighbor disputes and long-standing workplace grudges – joining a team of mediators, psychologists and survival mentors to present participants with physical and psychological challenges in wild North Wales.
Formats
“100 Knives”
Billed as the “largest cooking show in history,” “100 Knives” is backed by two Banijay companies, Mastiff Sweden (“Love is Blind”) and Bunim/Murray Productions (“Keeping Up With The Kardashians”), as well as Smart Dog Media (“The Masked Singer”). Made for Sweden’s TV4 it weighs in as a high-pressure culinary smackdown where 100 chefs, from food truck owners to fine dining apprentices, split into brigades as they face escalating challenges.
“DecoMasters”
A celebrity competition in which 10 celebrity couples compete in a fun contest to become true interior design professionals. Made by Banjiay Entertainment’s Shine Iberia’s for RTVE.
“The Dinner”
From the Netherlands’ SimpelZodiak, behind the local adaptation of “Survivor” and “Hunted,” and John de Mol’s Talpa Studios, a psychological reality game made for Talpa’s free-to cable network SBS6.
“Football Island”
A Dutch format hailed by Banijay as a groundbreaking sports reality survival format “combining the universe language of football with the high drama of the survival format,” as Townley puts it. Producing are SimpelZodiak and Banijay Benelux label Southfields, the largest sports production company in the Netherlands. 13 legendary footballers are deposited at a remote tropical location where they must survive and win football-inspired challenges. “Premium adventure storytelling with authentic sports expertise,” says Banijay.
‘Football Island’
“How Old Is Your Brain?”
Announced Feb. 16, 200 studio contestants face 50 questions with increasing difficulty, ranging from logic, memory, and math, from questions fit for a 90-year-old brain to those demanding peak cognitive performance. “A fun cerebral showdown built for co-viewing and packed with international potential,” says Townley.
“Staying Alive,”
Also unveiled on Monday, a music competition pairing two currently chart-topping artists to perform the biggest hits of music history’s greats, such as Elvis Presley, Whitney Houston, Amy Winehouse, and Freddie Mercury. “‘Staying Alive’ is set to be a spectacular performance event, bringing authenticity, warmth, and emotional impact in a primetime entertainment show,” Fabian Tobias, managing director, Endemol Shine Germany, said Monday.
“Who’s Guilty?”
Also just unveiled, on Feb. 12, a comedy crime competition from Metronome, behind “Shaolin Heroes,” for Danish pubcaster channel DR1, in which a comedy troupe is thrown into a fictional crime the attempts to dupe a celebrity jury about who is the real culprit.
Third-party non-scripted portfolio takes in cult strategic reality format “Werewolves” from Studiocanal and Dreamspark; superbrand “Ninja Warrior” from Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS); and digital-first format “All Star Hide and Seek” from Troot and Rabbit Film.
