Tony Jordan Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

Lauded British screenwriter Tony Jordan and BAFTA nominee Colin Teague have combined on The Devil’s Promise, the latest big-budget TV series to come from Saudi Arabia’s MBC Studios.

Prolific British writer Sarah Phelps, whose television credits include A Very British Scandal, Dublin Murders and long-running BBC soap drama Eastenders, encouraged an audience of writers at Dublin’s Storyhouse festival not to get discouraged by trolls or hate mail for their work. 

EXCLUSIVE: Death in Paradise producer Red Planet Pictures has struck a deal with ITV’s Our House author Louise Candlish and is seeking more work outside the UK, helped by new owner Asacha Media Group.

Death in Paradise star Kris Marshall is soon set to reprise his role as DI Humphrey Goodman in the upcoming spin-off series Beyond Paradise. Away from the Caribbean island of Saint-Marie, Beyond Paradise will be set in the British countryside as Humphrey and his fiancée Martha (played by Sally Bretton) navigate their new life together. However, Marshall has revealed the new show will have one major difference to the original series.

Death in Paradise spin-off. The Love Actually actor delighted fans of the show last month when he revealed that he would be reprising his role as DCI Humphrey Goodman in a new BBC show. The spin-off in question, entitled Beyond Paradise, will be set in a "rural setting in the south west," according to Marshall.

Naman Ramachandran The universe of the globally popular “Death in Paradise” series is being expanded with new show “Beyond Paradise.” The new series follows characters who have moved from sunny Saint Marie to rural Britain. Co-commissioned by BBC One and BritBox International, and reuniting Kris Marshall and Sally Bretton in the lead roles, the six-part “Beyond Paradise,” created by Tony Jordan and Robert Thorogood, will be produced by Red Planet Pictures.Executive chair of Red Planet, Jordan, will act as showrunner and executive producer alongside Tim Key and Belinda Campbell, and Diederick Santer and Tommy Bulfin will executive produce for BritBox International and BBC respectively. BBC Studios will handle international distribution.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentDubai-based broadcaster and streamer MBC is ramping up production with several new high-end shows.These include “Rise of The Witches,” being touted as the biggest-budget Saudi Arabian TV series to date, “The Devil’s Promise,” created by U.K. writer Tony Jordan, and crime thriller “1001 Nights.”MBC Group CEO Sam Barnett in an interview said MBC Studios now has 65 projects in various stages and reiterated the the Saudi-owned company is committed to serve as a driver to help kickstart the kingdom’s nascent industry.“Rise of The Witches” (first look image, above) is based on a Saudi novel described by Barnett as “a fantasy novel set 1,500 years ago in a time of witches” with a strong female empowerment theme.

Naman Ramachandran Paris-headquartered content creator Asacha Media Group (AMG) has acquired a majority stake in the U.K.’s Red Planet Pictures, producers of hit shows “Sanditon” and “Death in Paradise.”Red Planet, led by joint MDs, Belinda Campbell and Alex Jones, was founded in 2006 by showrunner Tony Jordan, who now serves as executive chair.

Red Planet Pictures, the UK drama producer behind BBC/PBS series Death In Paradise, has sold a majority stake to Asacha Media Group, the emerging Paris-based production group founded by three former Endemol Shine and Zodiak executives. Financial details were not disclosed.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentAs it ramps up original productions, Middle Eastern broadcaster MBC is launching lavish 1980s-set Arabic crime drama ‘Rashash,’ created by Britain’s Tony Jordan (“EastEnders”) and touted as its most ambitious Saudi series to date.Directed by another Brit, Collin Teague, whose credits include “Doctor Who,” “Rashash” is based on the true story of a Saudi Arabian drug trafficker convicted of murder and other crimes after being caught by the police in Saudi

MBC Studios, the Saudi-owned production unit of top Middle Eastern free-to-air satellite network MBC Group is set to launch “Blood Oath,” an Arabic crime series written by Britain’s Tony Jordan (“EastEnders,” “Life on Mars”).