Thursday 31 August 2017

The biggest multichannel broadcaster in the UK, UKTV, has today announced that it is co-producing a brand-new crime drama series, Frankie Drake Mysteries, for its premium channel Alibi.

The gripping crime drama (11x60) set in 1920s Toronto is produced by Shaftesbury in association with CBC. The series stars Lauren Lee Smith (The L Word, The Listener, CSI: Crime, Scene Investigation) as Private Investigator Frankie Drake and Chantel Riley (Race, The Lion King) as Trudy, her associate at Drake Private Detectives. Guest stars include British actor Laurence Fox (Inspector Lewis) as Frankie's confidante Greg Miller. Frankie Drake Mysteries will air on Alibi in 2018.

The Drake Private Detective Agency is Toronto's only female private detective agency. The team take on the cases the police do not want. In a time of change, their gender is their biggest advantage as they defy expectations and rebel against convention. The Drake Private Detectives take on cases that explore neighbourhoods from gospel church choirs, the early cinema scene to private parties of the city's elite. Frankie and Trudy's fearless sense of adventure get them into all kinds of trouble, but they always manage to find a way out. They are new detectives for a new world - but is the world ready for them?

Together with Shaftesbury, UKTV also produce Murdoch Mysteries which is consistently among the top-rated shows on Alibi since its UK premiere in 2008. Most recently, Murdoch Mysteries series 10 launched in January this year to a loyal fan base and delivered a standout performance.

Alexandra Finlay, UKTV's head of acquisitions, said:

We are thrilled to be extending our relationship with Shaftesbury. Murdoch Mysteries is one of Alibi's most-loved series, so we are delighted to be working together again. We are so excited to bring the vibrant world of Frankie Drake's 1920s Toronto to the UK.

Adrian Wills, general manager of Alibi, said:

This is an excellent new addition to Alibi's growing slate of exciting new content. Frankie Drake Mysteries is a brilliant new detective series that fits perfectly with our premium crime dramas. Dynamic characters, action and adventure around every corner, this will definitely appeal to Alibi fans.

Shaftesbury's Chairman and CEO and Frankie Drake Mysteries Executive Producer Christina Jennings added: "We are thrilled to embark on this new adventure with UKTV and look forward to continued success together in creating another hit series for fans around the world. From Gatsby-esque garden parties to rough-and-tumble speakeasies, there's a global appeal to the 1920s that we're excited to bring to life in Frankie Drake Mysteries. This was a time in Toronto of booming construction, considerable population growth, and a major shift in the role of women from the home and farm into the workplace. 

Frankie has come back from the war to work as a private detective with her partner Trudy and a network of associates, from Mary who works in the police station as a Morality Officer, to Flo who works in the morgue. We are going to see women fighting crime and fighting the system - a lot of action and a lot of fun."

Created by Carol Hay and Michelle Ricci, who also serve as executive producers, Frankie Drake Mysteries is executive produced by Christina Jennings, Scott Garvie, and Cal Coons, who is also showrunner, and produced by Jonathan Hackett. Frankie Drake Mysteries is developed and produced by Shaftesbury in association with CBC and UKTV, with the participation of the Canada Media Fund, the Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit, the Ontario Film and Television Tax Credit, the Cogeco Program Development Fund, and the Bell Fund. Content Media is the global distributor of the series.

For interviews with cast members please contact

Katie Sheldrake, Publicist, UKTV

Notes to Editors

About Alibi HD
Sky 132, Virgin 126

Alibi is the only TV channel dedicated to crime drama, promising the best selection from the genre premiering hit US series such as Rosewood and Quantico. The channel also features some of British TV's best-known detectives such as Miss Marple and most-loved British crime dramas including Death in Paradise, Father Brown and Silent Witness. Plus, the original crime scene detective Doctor William Murdoch in the channel's popular co-production, Murdoch Mysteries. alibi.uktv.co.uk | @Alibi_Channel

About UKTV

UKTV is a commercial broadcaster reaching over 41m viewers every month. The award-winning independent has eleven imaginative brands - UKTV Play, Dave, W, Gold, Alibi, Yesterday, Drama, Really, Home, Eden and Good Food. These include the two most popular non-PSB channels in the UK and account for nearly 10% of the British commercial TV market. The company's most recent financial results showed record-breaking year-end revenue of £344.8m and EBITDA of £91.3m. It invested £151.2m in programming and related launches last year, and is a significant investor in British creativity. The network embraces technology to deliver inspired channels to audiences through Freeview, Sky, Virgin Media, BT, TalkTalk, YouView, Freesat, Amazon Fire and UKTV Play, and distributes its highly valued original programmes to 200 territories. Now celebrating over 20 years at the forefront of digital television, UKTV - an independent commercial joint venture between BBC Worldwide and Scripps Networks Interactive, Inc. (SNI) - is proud to be the first British television broadcaster in The Sunday Times top 100 companies list.

corporate.uktv.co.uk / press.uktv.co.uk / @uktv_press

About Shaftesbury

Shaftesbury is an award-winning creator and producer of original content for television and digital platforms. Shaftesbury's current slate includes 11 seasons of Murdoch Mysteries for CBC, UKTV, and ITV STUDIOS Global Entertainment, detective drama Frankie Drake Mysteries for CBC and UKTV, and two seasons of critically acclaimed thriller series Slasher. Shaftesbury's digital arm, Smokebomb Entertainment, produces original digital, convergent, and branded entertainment projects including the hit YouTube series Carmilla, funded by U by Kotex(R), mystery series V Morgan Is Dead, brought to life by RBC, supernatural drama Inhuman Condition, and the Slasher VR app for iOS, Android, and Oculus Rift. In June 2014, Shaftesbury partnered with Youth Culture to launch shift2, a branded entertainment agency that drives profitable engagement with millennials using scripted series, turning brands into executive producers. 

About CBC/Radio-Canada

CBC/Radio-Canada is Canada's national public broadcaster and one of its largest cultural institutions. We are Canada's trusted source of news, information and Canadian entertainment. Deeply rooted in communities all across the country, CBC/Radio-Canada offers diverse content in English, French and eight Indigenous languages. We also provide international news and information from a uniquely Canadian perspective. In 2017, CBC/Radio-Canada will at the heart of the celebrations and conversations with special 2017-themed multiplatform programming and events across Canada.

For more information including series synopses, press releases, hi-res images, video clips and bios, please visit the {CBC Media Centre}(cbc.ca/mediacentre).