Richard Gadd, the brainchild behind Baby reindeerNetflix’s biggest hit of 2024 so far is making a new TV series — but it won’t be on the streaming giant.
In a joint press release from HBO and BBC, the two entertainment giants confirmed that Gadd’s next project, titled Lionswill debut on their respective cable and terrestrial TV channels, plus streaming platform BBC iPlayer, when it is ready for release. Gadd will write the scripts for the six-part series and be part of the extensive executive production team.
So, what will Lions Here’s the official story of the TV drama: “When Niall’s estranged ‘brother’ Ruben shows up at his wedding, it leads to an explosion of violence that catapults us back through their lives.
“This ambitious series spans nearly four decades, from the ’80s to the present, covering the highs and lows of the brothers’ relationship, from their meeting as teenagers to their breakup as adults — with all the good, bad, horrible, funny, angry and challenging moments along the way. It will capture the wild energy of a changing city — a changing world, even — and attempt to get to the bottom of the difficult question… What does it mean to be a man?”
Richard Gadd is set to direct his next TV series, ‘LIONS,’ for HBO. The series will follow the relationship between two estranged brothers over a period of 40 years. pic.twitter.com/QGbal8kzHIJune 27, 2024
In a statement accompanying the unveiling, Gadd said: “I am ordering an HBO box set of The Sopranos, The wireor Oz and watching it from beginning to end were some of the happiest moments of my childhood. Since then, it has always been a dream of mine to work with HBO and be a part of their iconic programs. I’m so grateful to Francesca Orsi, Kara Buckley and Clint LaVigne for taking this opportunity on the show, and also to Ruben and Niall, who – despite growing up in a dead-end Scottish town – would absolutely pinch themselves for this! I can’t wait to get started.”
Kara Buckley, HBO’s Senior Vice President of Drama Programming, also said: “We are incredibly excited to be working with the BBC and Richard Gadd, whose remarkable talent continues to make waves around the world. With this new, poignant and evocative series, we are proud to welcome Richard to the HBO family.”
“We are thrilled that HBO is joining us to bring the wonderful films of Richard Gadd Lions scripts on screen,” added Lindsay Salt, BBC Director of Drama. “This is bold, brilliant, unique storytelling and we can’t wait for viewers to see it.”
A blow to Netflix, or a bullet dodged?
Mild spoilers follow Baby reindeer.
At first glance, it appears that Netflix has made a mistake with Gadd’s latest TV project. Baby reindeer is a massive success for the world’s top streaming service, with the dark comedy-drama miniseries amassing 224.2 million hours of streams in its first 28 days on the platform. Throw in the near-perfect critical rating of 98% Rotten tomatoes – it also has an audience score of 80% on the same website – and its dominance in the TV show city throughout May, has more than earned the title of being the biggest cultural phenomenon of 2024.
So why hasn’t Netflix tried to continue its existing relationship with Gadd and make an offer to acquire Gadd? Lions? Well, we can’t say for sure that it isn’t. There’s a good chance that Netflix tried to outdo HBO and the BBC in the battle for the exclusive rights to air Lions in homes worldwide. It’s also possible that, given Baby reindeer‘s unprecedented success, the two studios not only moved quickly to work with one of the biggest current names in the industry, but also united to gazump Netflix’s offerings. This isn’t the first time HBO and the BBC have collaborated; the two companies joined forces to Doctor who (at least before Disney Plus agreed another deal with the BBC ahead of Ncuti Gatwa’s debut as the titular character) and Are dark materials for their respective target groups. So the pair has a previous form of working together to beat their competitors in projects.
However, it is also likely that Netflix simply avoided Lions due to the bad publicity it received after-Baby reindeer‘s release. Yes, one of Netflix’s best shows of the year was another huge win for the streamer, but the explosion in popularity came at a cost — a potentially expensive, lawsuit-driven one at that.
For the uninitiated: Baby reindeer‘s story is based on real-life events, in which Gadd was allegedly stalked by a woman for years. Understandably, the identity of that person was not revealed as part of the TV series for legal and privacy reasons – Jessica Gunning, who plays the unnamed woman, will go on to Baby reindeer.
Unfortunately for the woman Martha is inspired by, and despite Gadd’s best efforts to end speculation about her real name, internet sleuths quickly determined her identity. Almost a month after Baby reindeerUpon its April 11 release, controversial British journalist Piers Morgan interviewed a woman on his talk show Piers Morgan uncensored who not only claimed to be the inspiration for Martha, but also that she was suing Netflix for $170 million, according to the BBCinvasion of privacy, defamation and negligence.
Now I’m not suggesting that Netflix has chosen not to bid on Lions based on the Baby reindeer consequences, but I can’t help but think that the acquisition of the rights to Gadd’s new show by HBO and the BBC, and not Netflix, is a bit of a coincidence. Either way, we’ll probably never know for sure, which means the question of whether this is a blow to Netflix, or a bullet dodged, remains answered.