BBC/PBS partner for contemporary newspaper drama — “Press”


I absolutely love this time of year if for no other reason than it’s the annual PBS presentation at the Television Critic’s Association where we learn all kinds of brilliant things that are on the telly horizon. The first bit of news came earlier this week with the BBC/PBS/Lookout Point/Deep Indigo announcement about Press. The 6-part drama takes place in the contemporary world of the British newspaper industry, with a past tarnished by hacking scandals and a present at the mercy of the 24-hour news cycle and the Internet. The series will explore the turbulent media landscape through the fortunes of competing broadsheet and tabloid papers and people working for them.

Whether this is an example of ‘art imitating life’ or ‘life imitating art’, the series will definitely pull from today’s headlines. “At a time when both the nature and the role of the press have themselves become part of the news, there’s never been a better moment to focus on this unique world as the basis of a major television series. And I can’t think of anyone better to take that on than Mike Bartlett,” said Nigel Stafford-Clark, BAFTA award-winning producer who developed Press and is producing. Bartlett’s work will soon become known to PBS audiences when his television adaptation of the Tony-nominated Broadway play, King Charles III, will premiere on Masterpiece on May 21, 2017. BBC audiences will immediately familiar with his stellar work on Doctor Foster.

Check back tomorrow for some welcome news regarding the return of The Great British Baking Show returning to PBS this Summer!

 


In: Drama