Banijay Rights has secured international sales for the new drama RFDS: Royal Flying Doctor Service to a raft of broadcasters worldwide.
Ahead of the eight-hour drama’s premiere on Channel 7 and 7plus in Australia on Wednesday, 11th August, RFDS has been acquired by Channel 4 for More 4 in the UK, PBS in the US, TV4 in Sweden, SBS in Belgium, Talpa in the Netherlands and TVNZ in New Zealand.
Produced by Endemol Shine Banks for the Seven Network, RFDS portrays the modern-day heroes of the Royal Flying Doctor Service, featuring the Australian outback where doctors and nurses, pilots and support staff negotiate the challenges of emergency rescue across some of the most inhospitable places in the country.
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The drama, co-created by Imogen Banks, Mark Fennessy and Ian Meadows, stars TV Week Logie Award-winning actor Stephen Peacocke (Home and Away, Wanted), TV Week Logie Award-winning star Rob Collins (Mystery Road S2, Total Control, Glitch) and acclaimed actors Emma Hamilton (Mr Selfridge, The Tudors), Justine Clarke (Tangle, Hungry Ghosts, The Time Of Our Lives) and Ash Ricardo (Offspring, Bite Club).
RFDS: Royal Flying Doctor Service received major production investment from Seven Network in association with Screen Australia and was financed with support from Screen NSW through the Made in NSW Fund and the Regional Filming Fund.
Banijay Rights is the exclusive distributor of RFDS across all platforms.
Claire Jago, EVP Sales and Acquisitions EMEA, Banijay Rights, said: “Based on extraordinary real-life stories, RFDS: Royal Flying Doctor Service is a powerful drama series that not only perfectly chronicles the ‘edge-of-your-seat’ emergencies our heroes attend, but also the sense of community that brings these lives together. We’re extremely pleased with the widespread interest for this show, which we are sure will delight viewers worldwide.”
RFDS is produced by Imogen Banks and Sara Richardson for Endemol Shine Banks while Executive Producers are Mark and Carl Fennessy for Endemol Shine Australia and Julie McGauran for Seven.
See also: Mercado on TV: RFDS proves that commercial TV can still make good Australian drama