David Farnor | On 10, Feb 2018

Amazon and Virgin Media are teaming up to back a new sci-fi series from The Walking Dead EP Channing Powell.

Powell has worked on the last five seasons of AMC’s zombie smash hit, which is exactly the kind of show that Amazon is looking to emulate, as it moves away from small-scale awards favourites and indie pilots to large-scale mainstream productions. And so Amazon is teaming up with European pay-TV operator Liberty Global (which owns Virgin Media) to back a new sci-fi series, which Powell will oversee.

Called The Feed, the expensive show is based on Nick Clark Windo’s dystopian novel. The show is set in a near-future, where people can download a social media feed directly into their brains. In this Black Mirror-esque society, a couple find their six-year-old daughter missing after the ‘Feed’ goes down, causing society to crumble.

The book, which was only published last month by Headline and HarperCollins US, was snapped up quickly by All3Media’s Studio Lambert. The studio, which is mostly known for shows such as Undercover Boss and Gogglebox, is using the project to fuel its push into drama territory – a move led by its drama head Susan Hogg, a former BBC producer who produced Lambert’s first UK drama series, Three Girls. Hogg will exec produce The Feed alongside Studio Lambert’s Chief Executive Stephen Lambert, while Humans and Black Mirror director Carl Tibbetts will be at the helm. Powell, meanwhile, will write a number of episodes, alongside a room of rising British talent.

The show is “contemporary, relevant and fresh”, Lambert tells Deadline, which reports that there are already plans for potential future seasons.

This is more familiar territory for Liberty Global, which commissioned its first big-budget scripted series – The Rook, from Twilight’s Stephenie Meyer and The Night Manager’s Stephen Garrett – this year. With Liberty Global also looking for large shows that make a splash, the result is a project that’s a natural fit for Amazon. Amazon Prime Video will hold the rights to the series in the USA, Canada and Latin America, while Liberty Global’s Virgin Media will be its home in the UK.

“The Feed has an incredibly provocative story that will challenge and entertain our customers,” says Brad Beale, Vice President, Worldwide TV Content Acquisition, Amazon Prime Video. “Channing Powell has an amazing track record captivating audiences globally and we’re excited to be collaborating with her on this project.”

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