SMARTER FOR 10
CAN YOU REPEAT THAT? MARION McMULLEN LOOKS AT THE HITS AND MISSES OF UK TELLY REMAKES ABROAD
1 IS THERE A DOCTOR IN THE HOUSE? BBC hit psychological drama Doctor Foster is being remade in Russia. The UK series, which stars former Coronation Street actress Suranne Jones, follows the fortunes of a woman who learns her husband is being unfaithful to her. The first series was sold to 226 international territories before it was commissioned for the second and now BBC Worldwide has sold the scripted format to production company Star Media for broadcast on Russian channel Russia 1 next year. It will star Kseniya Rappoport.
2 IS IT TO RUSSIA WITH LOVE? DOCTOR Foster is not the first British show which has been remade for a Russian audience. They have made their own versions of Mistresses – starring Sharon Small, Sarah Parish, Orla Brady and Shelley Conn on the BBC – and crime drama Luther, which was known as Klim in Russia.
3 WAS IT AN ARRESTING REMAKE? LIFE On Mars was retitled Dark Side Of The Moon when it was remade in Russia, but the American version by ABC, starring Irish-born actor Jason O’Mara, failed to grab US viewers and it ended in 2009 after only one season.
4 WHAT ARE THE OFFICE HOURS? BBC comedy The Office was a success for Ricky Gervais in the UK and was also a hit for Steve Carell in America. He only watched a few minutes of the original though because he did not want to copy Ricky Gervais’ performance.
5 DO YOU THINK I’M SEXY? QUEER As Folk was a groundbreaking Channel 4 drama and Showtime’s American version ran for five seasons. The opening episode contained the first simulated sex scene between two men ever shown on American television.
6 DO YOU WANT TO PHONE A FRIEND? BRITISH quiz show Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?, hosted by Chris Tarrant, went on to become a worldwide hit after first airing on ITV in 1998. Versions of the show were made everywhere from Afghanistan to Vietnam. It was called Who Wants To Be Rich? in Ghana and Kaun Banega Crorepati in India.
7 IS THERE MONEY IN JUNK? BRITISH rag ‘n’ bone men Steptoe And Son became junk dealers Stanford And Son in the States with Redd Foxx and Desmond Wilson stepping into the roles made famous by Wilfred Bramble and Harold H Corbett in the original sitcom. The US show ran throughout most of the 1970s and won a Golden Globe.
8 HAVE YOU NO SHAME? WILLIAM H. Macy starred in the American version of Channel 4’s Shameless playing the alcoholic father-of-six. Mark Mylod directed the first episode of both the English Shameless and its American remake.
9 WHO WAS LEFT CLUELESS? DAVID Tennant played the top cop in both Broadchurch and the American remake called Gracepoint, but the crime drama failed to repeat the ratings success it had enjoyed in the UK and it was cancelled after just one season.
10 DOES IT GET YOUR VOTE? BBC political drama House Of Cards was based on the bestseller by Michael Dobbs and was initially a television hit for Ian Richardson in 1990. The American version is now proving equally successful for Kevin Spacey as the ambitious and ruthless US politician Francis Underwood. Each season in the American series has 13 episodes – one episode per card in a suit of playing cards.