UKTV ANNOUNCES NEW ACQUITIONS FOR ALIBI AND UKTV PLAY

UKTV has secured the rights to air So Help Me Todd (21x60’) and Evil S3 (10x60’) on its crime channel Alibi, and all five series of A Million Little Things (17x60’, 19x60’, 18x60’, 20x60’, 13x60’) for its streaming service UKTV Play.

The deal is the latest between UKTV and Paramount Global Content Distribution following last year’s acquisition of CSI: Vegas for Alibi and was secured by Harriet Armston-Clarke, senior global acquisitions manager and Melanie Rumani, global head of acquisitions at BBC Studios and UKTV.

Melanie Rumani said, “We are so pleased to be continuing our strong relationship with Paramount and securing these series for Alibi and UKTV Play. UKTV is a fantastic home for premium US dramas and we look forward to acquiring more in the future.”

“We are thrilled to be continuing to work with UKTV and Alibi to bring these top-quality titles to the UK audience,” says Matthew Downer, Sr. Vice President, Regional TV Licensing, Paramount Global Content Distribution.

So Help Me Todd will premiere on Alibi in the summer and series 3 of Evil will TX on Alibi in July, both as UK premieres.

Alibi’s channel director, Emma Ayech, said, “Paramount content works well on Alibi so it’s fantastic to be able to bring the next series of Evil to the UK exclusively on Alibi, and also introduce So Help Me Todd to our viewers.”

A Million Little Things is set to premiere in the UK exclusively on free streaming service UKTV Play in the autumn. Last year UKTV Play saw a year of huge growth, with a 27% increase in views and an additional one million registered users joining the service, to reach 6.4 million.

Andrea Amey, UKTV’s General Manager for Digital, added, “We are really pleased to bring all five series of A Million Little Things exclusively to UKTV Play this autumn. UKTV Play viewers love premium drama so it’s another great addition to the platform in a year where we are investing heavily in content for the service.”

Created by Robert and Michelle King (The Good Wife, The Good Fight), Evil is a psychological mystery that examines the origins of evil along the dividing line between science and religion. A sceptical female clinical psychologist (Katja Herbers) joins a priest-in-training (Mike Colter) and a contractor (Aasif Mandvi) as they investigate supposed miracles, demonic possessions, and other extraordinary occurrences to see if there’s a scientific explanation or if something truly supernatural is at work.

So Help Me Todd is a legal drama created by Scott Prendergast, who serves as executive producer and co-showrunner alongside Elizabeth Klaviter. The series stars Academy Award winner Marcia Gay Harden (Mystic River, The Morning Show) as razor-sharp, meticulous attorney Margaret Wright and Skylar Astin (Pitch Perfect, Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist) as her son Todd, a talented but aimless former private investigator who reluctantly takes a job at her law firm. Their methods are completely at odds but somehow it seems to work, and this could be a big first step toward mending their fragile, dysfunctional relationship.

A Million Little Things was created by DJ Nash, whose previous credits include Til Death, Traffic Light, Growing Up Fisher and Bent and is executive produced by Nash, Aaron Kaplan, Terrence Coli, Brian Morewitz, Dana Honor, James Griffiths and David Marshall Grant. Starring David Giuntoli, Romany Malco, Allison Miller, Christina Moses, Grace Park, James Roday Rodriguez, Stephanie Szostak, Tristan Byon, Chance Hurstfield and Lizzy Greene, the series follows a group of friends who become motivated to live fuller lives after the unexpected death of a close friend.