After winning the hearts of global audiences through Baby Reindeer, Richard Gadd’s next project has been picked up by HBO and the BBC.
Titled Lions, the series will be centered around a decades-long, complicated relationship between two brothers. Apart from Gadd, the common factor between Lions and Baby Reindeer is Lindsay Salt, who commissioned the Netflix drama and now plays an integral role in bringing the Scottish artist’s second show to BBC and HBO, as the U.K.-based network’s director of drama.
The show is set to have six episodes, with Gadd writing and Alexandra Brodski and Eshref Reybrouck picking up director duties. Gadd is also one of the executive producers on the upcoming series.
Gadd recently shared his thoughts on getting an opportunity to collaborate with two media powerhouses:
“Ordering an HBO boxset of The Sopranos, The Wire, or Oz and watching it from start to finish were some of the happiest moments of my childhood. Since then, it has always been a dream of mine to work with HBO and be part of their iconic roster of shows.”
Richard Gadd/The Hollywood Reporter
According to a synopsis of the show, the story will follow two estranged “brothers,” Niall and Ruben, who are reunited at the former’s wedding. What ensues is a tale that spans 40 years, taking the audiences through the highs and lows of the brothers’ relationship, from when they were teens to their present state in the series. The show aspires to answer an abstract question: What does it mean to be a man?
It will be difficult to argue against the fact that few artists have enjoyed a quicker rise to fame than Gadd has lately, as the hit Netflix adaptation of his one-man show, Baby Reindeer, has put him on the map in a big way. Starring Gadd, in a fictionalized retelling of events from his own life, as an aspiring comedian and bartender who is relentlessly stalked by a woman named Martha (Jessica Gunning in a show-stealing performance), the series has consistently been a chart-topper for Netflix since its release.
However, the success has come at a cost of controversy, the most prominent being Fiona Harvey’s defamation claim against the streamer for allegedly showing her in a bad light with the dramatization of events. In a separate incident, Gadd himself was the subject of an investigation by the producers of the show for reportedly exerting his creative influence over a potential romantic partner.
