BBC4 acquires sc-fi series Missions to broadcast in 2018
The ten-part French series will be the first international sci-fi drama acquisition for the channel
BBC4 will broadcast French drama Missions in the UK, RadioTimes.com can exclusively reveal.
The ten-part series about the first ever manned mission to Mars will air next year and will be the channel’s first international sci-fi drama acquisition.
Telling the story of eccentric Swiss billionaire William Meyer (Mathias Mlekuz) and his eight-strong crew, the premise sees the team just one day away from reaching Mars when news reaches them that they have been overtaken by an American rival mission and they will no longer be the first to plant on the planet.
However after a chaotic landing on Mars, the team discover a survivor. But he is not from the American mission. He’s Russian named Vladimir Komarov, who died on a mission to space in 1967. Mysterious.
Giorgia Sinicorni and Christophe Vandevelde play a married couple who are also Astronauts, while Hélène Viviès stars as mission psychiatrist Jeanne Renoir.
Channel Editor of BBC4 Cassian Harrison said: "After travelling the globe with our international dramas, it’s exciting to now head off into space to a planet as yet unexplored. Missions is tense, taught drama at its finest and it’s a real honour to be showing it on BBC Four."
Sue Deeks, BBC Head of Programme Acquisition, added: "Set against a stunning backdrop of outer space, Missions is very much a human story about a team of remarkable people brought together on the adventure of a lifetime. When things don’t go to plan, a truly original and suspenseful story unfolds. I’m sure this is a mission BBC Four viewers will be glad they boarded!"
The series was created by Henri Debeurme, Julien Lacombe and Ami Cohen.
Missions airs on BBC4 in 2018.
