Netflix unveils details of new season at star-studded event in London
At Battersea Power Station for the unveiling of the new Netflix season were Alistair Petrie, Sam McAlister, Yasmin Finney, Claudia Harrison, Rapman, Michelle Keegan and Joey Batey. (Photo by StillMoving.net for Netflix)
Netflix unveiled several of its upcoming series, films and documentaries at a star-studded event in London on Wednesday evening, revealing a host of high-profile casting as well as lots of talent local to the UK and Ireland.
Daniel Kaluuya, writer and producer of The Kitchen, which will launch on Netflix later this year, was among the creative talents to speak to press and he said he was inspired to create the drama series by a conversation at his barbers about smash-and-grab thefts in London.
The Kitchen is set in London 2044, a future where the gap between rich and poor has been stretched to its limits and follows an unlikely pair as they battle to survive in a system that is stacked against them.
Kaluuya told host Anita Rani he was excited to say something fresh and new that says “something really profound about where we're at right now”.
He said The Kitchen has been years in the making and that he doesn’t feel he is changing the creative landscape but showing that “the landscape is different in my head”.
Kaluuya said he is frustrated by a small-minded mentality when it comes to storytelling and he aims to tell a global story with relatable roots.
“I'll go ‘how do we make a global story that speaks to deeper themes that everyone can connect to, like fatherhood and displacement and what's right and what's wrong, moral complexities’. How do you make that exciting, make that accessible? How can we be specific and global at the same time, because America does it.”
Actress Michelle Keegan said it was a "dream come true” to star in an upcoming adaptation of the Harlan Coban novel Fool Me Once. She said she feels “really lucky and really honoured” to star opposite Richard Armitage and Joanna Lumley. She said Coban has been “really involved” in the production.
The event heard from Sam McAlister, the interview producer at BBC Newsnight who secured the now-infamous interview with Britain’s Prince Andrew for the programme. A drama series focusing on that will stream on Netflix, with Billie Piper as McAlister and Rufus Sewell as Andrew in The Scoop, an adaptation of McAlister’s book about the interview.
“What I love about this tale is it's a story of women,” she said. “It's the tale of the hard work everybody put in which had different effects for the different protagonists, but I just wanted people to know how it happened.”
At the event at Battersea Power Station, Netflix also revealed an almost €6 billion investment in the UK and Ireland creative industry. Anne Mensah, vice president for content with Netflix UK and Ireland said the company has invested £1.5 billion per year in the area since 2020 with an “authentic UK and Ireland outlook”.
Upcoming titles include factual programmes following household names including David Beckham and Tyson Fury as well as fan favourites like Heartstopper, The Witcher and The Crown, which wrapped its final season just last Friday.
A documentary series will follow Robbie William’s separation from Take That in the 1990 and the highs and lows of his career which spans three decades. David Beckham is the focus of another factual series, a mixture of never-before-seen personal archive footage and candid interviews with the football legend and those close to him.
In July, Andrew Ridgeley and the late George Michael will be the subjects of a documentary on WHAM! with archive footage and interviews sharing their story of their 1980s chart domination in their own words.
Original films include Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget, while Black Mirror will return to the streaming giant for a sixth season. Six-episode miniseries Supacell, written by Rapman, follows five black south Londoners who develop superpowers.
At Home With the Furys has exclusive access to the heavyweight champion’s family and personal life and promises to be an entertaining look behind the scenes of Fury’s retirement.
Netflix will expand its factual sport selection with series on rugby, tennis, soccer and Formula 1 in the works for 2023. Meanwhile Jamie Dornan will star opposite Gal Gadot in spy movie Heart of Stone, releasing in August 2023.
Newly announced series include Bank of Dave: The Sequel seeing Dave Fishwick taking on a new adversary on the Payday Lenders; Black Doves, starring Kiera Knightley; and Department Q, which is from Scott Frank, the director of the Queen’s Gambit.
Denise O’Donoghue got a preview of some upcoming projects at Netflix’s See What’s Next event in London:
Guests at See What’s Next were treated to an exclusive clip from the yet-unnamed documentary series following soccer legend David Beckham. The series will feature personal archive footage from Beckham’s life and football career as well as candid moments with his family.
In the clip, he is seen with his wife, fashion designer and Spice Girl, Victoria. Beckham describes his cooking and cleaning habits around their home, leading host Anita Rani to exclaim as the preview ended: “Candle wicks, what the fuck?” The series looks to be a deeply personal account of one of the world’s best-known sporting figures, the highs and lows of his career, and his relationships with those close to him.
Tyson Fury takes us behind the scenes as the heavyweight champion of the world tackles retirement. The documentary series, described by Netflix at the event as a 2023-version of The Osbornes, will feature Fury and his wife, Paris; their six children; Fury’s father, John; and Fury’s brother Tommy with his partner, Molly Mae.
The preview shown at See What’s Next was instantly addictive, with jokes aplenty from the Fury clan and with so many distinctive personalities it is sure to be a must-watch.
It was the interview the whole world was talking about: Prince Andrew’s car crash interview on Newsnight with Emily Maitlis had jaws on the floor when it aired in November 2019. In it, the British queen’s “favourite son” was interviewed about his relationship with the American convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and The Scoop is the inside story of how the interview came to be.
Sam McAlister, who wrote the book The Scoop is based on, joined host Anita Rani to describe what it was like being closely involved in such a groundbreaking moment of television, as well as to share some insights into working with Billie Piper, who plays McAlister in the programme, as well as Gillian Anderson, Keeley Hawes, and Rufus Sewell. Sewell stars as Andrew and is unnervingly identical in looks and mannerisms to the disgraced prince in the preview clip shown to press. Given the success of Netflix’s other Royal Family-focused productions - The Crown and Meghan & Harry - this is one to watch.
In this film, Daniel Kaluuya brings us to a dystopian London in 2044 where the gap between the rich and the poor has been stretched to its limits. The Kitchen is the largest temporary accommodation of its kind and London’s last village filled with people unwilling to move on from their home.
The film focuses on Izi, a resident trying to find a way out, and 12-year-old Benji who lost his mother and is searching for a family. The story follows the pair as they battle to survive in a system that is stacked against them.
Rapman writes, directs and executive produces this original series where five ordinary people develop superpowers. The only common thread is that they are all Black south Londoners. One man strives to bring them together to save the woman he loves.
Rahman shot to fame in 2018 with his three-part YouTube trilogy Shiro's Story and he spoke at See What’s a next about his delight at helping to find up-and-coming actors in areas like South London and what it means personally to see people who look like him as superheroes.
