It used to be the case that the main terrestrial channels - and SKY - grabbed all the great imports for themselves, with some of the other cable/satellite channels having to scurry around for the remains. But in the last few years, several of the UK's satellite channels have been doing well for themselves, not only grabbing the latest American shows but also a raft of other international projects.
And so it is that Sony Entertainment Television (which to date has mostly had repeats of previously successful shows) has managed to acquire the first run UK broadcast rights to Serangoon Road. The ten episode drama was HBO Asia’s first original series, created in co-production with Australian broadcaster ABC and after a steady start went on to be a huge ratings success throughout Asia. The show is now set to debut in the UK on Wednesday April 9th at 9pm.
Serangoon Road is set in the Singapore of the 1960s - a place of intrigue where lots of international machinations come home to roost, with politicians and competing intelligence agencies vying for control and their own agendas. The founder of the Cheng Detective Agency is murdered and his widow, Patricia (Joan Chen), enlists the help of an enigmatic Australian Sam Callaghan (Don Hany) to help run the business. However resourceful Callaghan may be, neither he nor Patricia are probably ready for the can of worms that the investigation into his death will uncover or how many people want the truth kept hidden.
Our own Mike Leeder was involved in the casting of the project and told us that "... Serangoon Road really raised the level for original drama series in Asia in terms of production value, a multi-national cast and so much more. I was lucky enough to be involved in the casting for the series and on set for much of the shoot. The series really develops and the second half of the series takes a much darker tone. I was also asked to come back and do the casting for HBO Asia's latest project Grace, a supernatural mini-series....which we'll be able to talk about more soon."
The show's driving force for HBO Asia, Erika North, has also reteamed with the series' co-director Tony Tilse (and two of its cast Russell Wong and Pamelyn Chean) for the 'Grace' project - and that has begun shooting this week.
