David Farnor | On 04, Apr 2016

Netflix has snapped up ITV’s Marcella for international distribution.

The show, which is created by The Bridge’s Hans Rosenfeldt, is purported to bring that Nordic noir sensibility to London, with Anna Frield starring in the thriller as a detective returning to the force after several years away to investigate a serial killer case.

The eight-part drama is produced by Buccaneer Media and marks Rosenfeldt’s first drama for the British market. The directing team matches that combined UK and Scandinavian approach, including Being Human’s Charles Martin, Broadchurch’s Jonathan Teplitzky and Wallander’s Henrik Georgsson.

Cineflix Rights sold the show to Netflix, which will release the programme exclusively around the world from 1st July. The show will not be added to Netflix in the UK and Ireland, due to ITV’s first window broadcast rights, although in similar deals by Netflix for US and Canadian series, the programme has then been added to Netflix in its native country many months later. Indeed, last week, Channel 4’s Scrotal Recall landed on Netflix UK, a year after its exclusive acquisition by Netflix for international markets and a few days after Netflix’s decision to commission a second season.

Glen Salzman, co-founder and co-CEO of Cineflix Media, said in a statement: “Netflix is the perfect international home for Marcella. Created by an exceptionally talented team who have produced powerful, thought-provoking global hits, Marcella is the perfect example of the kind of premium scripted content that Cineflix will be looking to distribute going forward.”

Marcella premieres tonight on ITV, with episodes arriving every Monday at 9pm. Friel is joined by a cast that includes Laura Carmichael (Downton Abbey), Nicholas Pinnock (Fortitude), Sinéad Cusack (Jekyll & Hyde) and Harry Lloyd (Game Of Thrones).

You can read our review of Episode 1 here.

Photo: BUCCANEER MEDIA FOR ITV

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