Sky Acquires Netflix Drama for SBS

Sky Box Sets will premiere a British crime drama that hitherto has streamed exclusively on Netflix.

Marcella will screen on July 19, a month after the second season starts streaming on Netflix (in 4K).

The Scandi noir-style series stars Anna Friel as a troubled ex-detective who returns to her murder beat to investigate a baffling case.

There are reports of a possible third series following a well-received second run on ITV.

“We want to do it,” creator Hans Rosenfeldt told the Huffington Post UK. “But it’s really up to ITV whether they want to commission series three.”

The show rated solidly in the UK, with 3.2 million viewers tuning into the series mid-run, which was below the season premiere’s 3.7 million but still up 100,000 viewers on episode two.

Also new to SBS will be S2 of The Arrangement (July 28), S1-2 of Animal Kingdom (July 1 & 8), ahead of its S3 premiere on SoHo, and S1-2 of Wayward Pines, which previously screened on The Box and Prime (July 9 & 16).

The channel’s only NZ premiere will be season three of Channel Zero, Butcher’s Block, which will screen on Friday the 13th.

Based on Kerry Hammond’s creepypasta, Search and Rescue Woods, it’s about a young woman who learns of a series of disappearances that may be linked to a rumour about mysterious staircases in her city’s worst neighbourhoods.

Holland Roden (Teen Wolf), Olivia Luccardi (The Deuce) and Rutger Hauer (Blade Runner) star.

“The third installment in the ongoing TV anthology has slightly different tastes than its predecessors,” IndieWire said, “but is more unnerving than ever.”