ABC orders UFO series from Shaftesbury

US network ABC has ordered Weird Desk, a supernatural drama from Canadian producer Shaftesbury, straight-to-series.

The UFO-based series will air next summer and has been given a 13 episode order.

This comes after Shaftesbury, run by Christina Jennings, launched a US division last year and appointed former Columbia TriStar Network Television president Tom Mazza and senior development executive Maggie Murphy to run it.

Weird Desk, which has been described as similar to The X-Files, was written by Stargate’s Carl Binder and The Librarian’s David Titcher and follows a clandestine unit tasked with solving real-life mysteries from this world and beyond. It will be exec produced by Mazza and Murphy.

Weird Desk will be distributed internationally by Disney Media Distribution.