Paramount+ UK links with SBS & TVNZ on Buccaneer’s ‘Doll Factory’ drama

Elizabeth Macneal

Paramount+ in the UK and Ireland has partnered with Australia’s SBS and New Zealand’s TVNZ on an adaptation of Elizabeth Macneal’s novel The Doll Factory.

The 6 x 60-minute drama is from Marcella producer Buccaneer Media, with its sibling distribution firm Cineflix Rights selling globally. The series was ordered by Sebastian Cardwell, deputy chief content officer for Paramount UK.

The show is set in 1850’s London and tells the story of a woman who paints dolls for a living during the day while secretly painting herself naked during the night. It tracks her relationship with a taxidermist and a painter, and whether she is willing to sacrifice her twin sister to escape and start a new life.

Cardwell said: “The Doll Factory combines intrigue with universal themes of passion and obsession to tell a compelling story which will resonate with our Paramount+ audience.”

Buccaneer chiefs Tony Wood and Richard Tulk-Hart added: “The combination of debut author Elizabeth Macneal with first time screenwriter Charley Miles is what this company is all about: emergent talent who will take the world by storm.

“To have SBS and TVNZ join Paramount+ at such an early stage is testament to the incredible writing of Charley. Cineflix Rights also saw the potential of this very early on and after their success with our previous two shows we’re very happy to have them as distribution partners as well.”

Executive producers are Wood, Burns and Tulk-Hart for Buccaneer, alongside Miles and Macneal.

The Doll Factory joins a growing UK slate, including A Gentleman in Moscow, Sexy Beast, The Blue, The Ex-Wife, The Burning Girls and Flatshare.

Paramount+ also yesterday ordered a local version of MTV format Are You The One, which will debut on the streamer in the UK and Ireland, as well as on MTV channels outside of the US. It is produced by All3Media’s Lime Pictures, with Amy Boyle and Craig Orr as executive producers.