Escapade Media has secured world rights, excluding New Zealand, to Jump Films’ WW1 TV drama When We Go To War.
Aired on TVNZ's TV One earlier this year, the 6-hour series was scripted by Gavin Strawhan, directed by Peter Burger and produced by Robin Scholes (Once Were Warriors, Mr. Pip, Broken English).
The plot follows the experiences of New Zealand soldiers in the trenches, the nurses caring for the wounded in Egypt and the impact of the war on the families back home over nine months of the Gallipoli campaign.
The story centres around a powerful and conflicted love story between Bea Smith (Esther Stephens), a woman ahead of her time who is nursing in Egypt alongside her lover William (Tom O'Sullivan), a dedicated doctor.
It also explores the effect the battlefield has on Charles Smith (Ido Drent), a lawyer turned officer, his brother Harry (Milo Cawthorne), the family's black sheep, and family friend Manaaki Kokiri (Alexander Tarrant), a preacher turned lethally effective soldier.
The effects of war at home include the grief of the bereaved, anti-German hatred, anti-conscription activism and the survival of the family's economic base, Smith's Emporium.
Escapade Media MD Natalie Lawley, who will launch the series at Mipcom, said, “This is a high-end drama about a subject matter that has no expiration date but told from a unique point of view.”