Granada Unveils Slate for NATPE

LONDON, December 12: Granada International is heading to NATPE with a raft of new titles covering genres like comedy, entertainment, music and drama, led by the British TV movie My Boy Jack, which stars Daniel Radcliffe and Kim Cattrall.

In his first television role since Harry Potter, Radcliffe stars alongside Sex and the City’s Cattrall in the wartime drama, My Boy Jack. The 95-minute production, an Ecosse Films/WGBH Boston/Ingenious Broadcasting co-production for ITV in association with Octagon Films and Granada International, is based on the true story of Jack Kipling (played by Radcliffe), the son of British author Rudyard Kipling. After Jack becomes a soldier in WWI and goes missing, Rudyard and his wife Carre (played by Cattrall) begin their search to find their son.

David Haig (Four Weddings and a Funeral, The Thin Blue Line) stars as Rudyard Kipling, and wrote the drama, which is directed by Brian Kirk (The Tudors, Middletown) and also stars Carey Mulligan (Bleak House, Northanger Abbey). My Boy Jack recently aired in the U.K. on ITV1, and achieved a 25-percent share of viewers in a prime-time Sunday-night slot.

Other drama offerings include the 13x48-minute series Murdoch Mysteries, which is set in Toronto, Canada in the 1980s. Yannick Bisson stars as William Murdoch, a young detective who solves challenging murders using emerging and progressive forensic techniques. The series is a Shaftesbury Films production in association with CHUM Television, Granada International and UKTV. BAFTA Award-winner Victoria Wood (Housewife 49) and Emma Watson (Hermione in Harry Potter) star in the drama Ballet Shoes, from Granada for the BBC.

Other titles in Granada’s catalogue for NATPE include entertainment programming like Corteo, which features circus skills and avant-garde theatrical techniques presented by Cirque du Soleil, along with its backstage counterpart Through The Curtain. On the music and celebrity programming front, Granada will offer up The Kylie Show, Divas and Audience With Celine Dion, among others.

Additional highlights include the comedic entertainment series The Friday Night Project, which is also available as a format. Other formats from Granada’s catalogue include the cooking competition reality show Best Dish… and the game show format Born Winners. Also available from Granada at NATPE are the wildlife series Nick Baker’s Weird Creatures, the HD animated series Supernormal, the children’s series Boowa & Kwala, Hollywood TV movies like Matters of Life And Dating, the series Old Skool with Terry and Gita, as well as the popular Hell’s Kitchen series from both the U.S. and the U.K.

By Kristin Brzoznowski

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Carey to star at charity concert

HOLLYWOOD actress Carey Mulligan will be among the hundreds of guests at a Christmas charity concert.

The Chapel at Wellington College will be the venue tomorrow (Thursday) for Thames Hospicecare’s annual fundraiser.

Ms Mulligan, who has shot to fame starring in the ITV series My Boy Jack and alongside Keira Knightley in Pride and Prejudice, will give a reading, while the Windsor Boys’ School Wind Band will be among the musical performers.

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