Netflix unveils raft of UK commissions including projects with Charlie Brooker, Bob Mortimer and Sarah Lancashire

Netflix has unveiled another slate of UK originals, including a new absurdist comedy from Black Mirror creator Charlie Brooker and a drama starring Happy Valley’s Sarah Lancashire.

Charlie Brooker

Michael Wharley

At a UK upfront in London this afternoon, the US-based streamer revealed projects spanning comedy entertainment and scripted dramas.

The previously announced Brooker series has now been unveiled as Blackmere, which will premiere early next year. Written by Brooker with Ben Caudell, Jason Hazeley, Emer Kenny, Daniel Maier and Joel Morris, the show is described as an absurd comedy disguised as a serious crime thriller.

With a cast including Paddy Considine and Rory Kinnear, the show’s plot follows tortured detective John Blackmere, who leaves the rain-soaked Northern city of Bleakford for London to avenge his partner’s death and catch a ritualistic serial killer before they run out of victims.

Lancashire, meanwhile, is leading Witch Hunt (6×60′), from The Split writer Abi Morgan and production company Sister in association with Little Chick. Sister’s Jane Featherstone is on board as executive producer and the project will air in 2028.

The story follows a descendant of the ‘Witch of Cambridge’ who is released after three decades in prison for drowning her three young daughters – coming home to a community who does not want her back.

In unscripted, Bob Mortimer and Richard Ayoade lead a comedy star line-up in a new entertainment format based on a classic childhood game. Six-part comedy entertainment show Hot or Cold is set inside a mysterious institution with challenges that appear to make no sense. The participants’ only guide is the room itself, which glows red when they’re getting warmer and blue when they’re getting colder. Banijay-owned Zeppotron is the production company.

Elsewhere, Netflix confirmed that the second season of Black Doves, starring Keira Knightley and Ben Whishaw, will land on November 5.

The commissions follow a previous wave of UK announcements, including a new drama from Adolescence’s Jack Thorne, which were unveiled at the Edinburgh TV Festival last month.