Disney+ confirms UK originals are coming soon
Following early success with The Mandalorian and WandaVision, new original series will be produced in the UK.
Disney+ has confirmed that it will be branching out into UK original series very soon.
At a virtual press briefing held today (Wednesday, 17th February), Liam Keelan – Vice President Original Content, Europe and Africa at The Walt Disney Company – confirmed that UK originals in the drama, comedy and unscripted genres are all on "just on the cusp of announcement".
The news follows an announcement earlier in the week of 10 new European originals for the service: including the four-part true-crime drama Oussekine, the fantasy series Parallels, the comedy Weekend Family and the documentary series Soprano: Sing or Die (all from France), plus crime thriller The Good Mothers, comedy series Boris, and romantic drama The Ignorant Angels (all from Italy).
In addition, drama Sam – A Saxon will tell the story of East-Germany's first Black police officer, while German dark comedy Sultan City follows the respectable matriarch of a German-Turkish family who accidentally becomes the head of a criminal underworld.
Finally, Feyenoord Rotterdam is a sports documentary from the Netherlands.
Further announcements made at the press briefing by Luke Bradley-Jones – Senior Vice President, Direct to Consumer and General Manager, Disney+ EMEA – included news that upcoming US series Only Murders in the Building (starring Steve Martin, Martin Short and Selena Gomez), The Old Man (starring Jeff Bridges) and Dopesick (starring Michael Keaton) will all be coming exclusively to Star on Disney+ in Europe.
The gap between US broadcast and shows arriving on Disney+ will vary on a "title by title basis", Bradley-Jones said, but with the aim of these series arriving "very close to the airing in the US" – the Ryan Phillippe drama Big Sky, which has already aired seven episodes Stateside, will make its first three episodes available on Star from launch on 23rd February in an effort to catch up.
It was also confirmed that on top of certain archive shows such as 24 streaming exclusively on Star on Disney+, US shows with established UK broadcasters like Grey's Anatomy will follow a similar pattern to The Simpsons, with new episodes arriving on the streaming platform after first airing elsewhere.
However, while a Disney+ bundle including ESPN is available in other parts of the world, it was clarified that there are currently "no plans" for Disney+ in Europe to stream live sporting events.
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