PBS Distribution has snapped up US rights to Halifax: Retribution, to premiere on Amazon Prime Video’s PBS Masterpiece Channel.
Originally commissioned by the Nine Network and produced by Beyond Lonehand, the procedural drama stars Rebecca Gibney and Anthony LaPaglia in a reboot of Halifax F.P.
Original creator and writer Roger Simpson returns as writer, alongside Mac Gudgeon , Peter Gawler and Jan Sardi.
The series sees Gibney reprise her role as forensic psychiatrist Jane Halifax, who returns to work in the field after a two-decade hiatus when a sniper starts terrorising the city and Commander Tom Saracen (LaPaglia) urgently needs her assistance.
Jane comes to realise that the killer’s invisibility to the surveillance cameras and his sophisticated hacking skills hold the clue to what he wants.
Halifax: Retribution was recently nominated in the Best Drama Series category for the prestigious 2020 AACTA Awards, while Rebecca Gibney was nominated for Best Actress in a Drama Series.
Sherry Fynbo, EVP sales for North America at Beyond Rights, was responsible for negotiating the deal with PBS Distribution.
She told IF the show “ticked all the boxes” for the distributor.
“PBS has a broader audience, which I think played a big part in the deal, but they also really liked the acting in the show,” she said.
“One aspect they did think would be interesting for the audience was getting a closer look at Melbourne.
“They thought it would be really interesting for the audience to see an Australian city.”
Beyond International CEO and MD, Mikael Borglund, who executive produced both the original Halifax F.P. titles and Halifax: Retribution, said he expected the show to prove “very popular” in the US.
“It was a real pleasure to bring so many of the original team back together, including creator and writer Roger Simpson, to see how Jane Halifax’s life had unfolded over the past two decades,” he said.
“Fans of the original series, which sold all over the world and featured everyone from Hugh Jackman and Hugo Weaving to Guy Pierce and Frances O’Connor, had been waiting patiently for this series, while its very contemporary themes around data mining and personal freedoms are successfully attracting new audiences.”