Tubi Acquires British Comedy Thriller 'Dead Hot'

If you haven’t noticed yet, FAST channels are becoming a rapidly expanding source of British entertainment content in the U.S. For those of you who haven’t tried one of these new platforms yet, FAST stands for Free Ad-supported Streaming Television, essentially what we old folks remember as “regular television,” only it’s now available on your favorite local streaming service and via an app. And while many of these platforms, like The Roku Channel, Amazon Freevee, and Pluto TV, are already valuable destinations for niche programming and reruns of old favorites, they’re all starting to bring over new original content to catch viewer eyeballs. 

The Roku Channel brought Paramount+’s recent U.K. original The Burning Girls to American shores with surprisingly little fanfare, while Amazon Freevee did much the same with the Jessica Brown Findlay comedy The Flatshare, though at least it is putting a marketing push behind launching its upcoming BBC thriller Boat Story. But it is the Fox-affiliated Tubi that is digging most enthusiastically into the world of British TV, snapping up shows like Boarders and Big Mood to premiere them as “Tubi originals” in its race to keep up in the seemingly neverending content wars. Its latest acquisition is the Prime Video U.K. thriller Dead Hot, a twisty drama about two friends joining forces to investigate the disappearance of a close connection. 

A character-driven thriller that explores issues of class, love, and identity, Dead Hot follows the story of Elliot and Jess, two friends who share a unique grief — Peter, Jess’s twin brother and the first and only love of Elliott’s life, has disappeared under what can only be called mysterious circumstances. Set in present-day Liverpool, the series picks up five years after Peter’s disappearance. Jess and Elliott are still spiraling, partying to numb their grief and clinging to the hope that one day they’ll find out the truth about what happened to the man they both cared so much for. When Elliott meets someone new, he hopes to be able to put the past behind him. But his new boyfriend has dark secrets, and when Jess is contacted by someone claiming to be her brother, the two become determined to do whatever it takes to find out the truth. 

“I love Tubi’s innovative approach to accessibility in streaming, and I am thrilled to be bringing Dead Hot to the U.S. and Canada with them,” writer and creator Charlotte Coben said in a statement. “Dead Hot for all!”

Here's the series synopsis.

Set in present-day Liverpool, twentysomethings Elliot and Jess are best friends united by a bond of grief at losing Peter—the first and only love of Elliot and Jess’ twin brother. It’s been five years since Peter went missing in mysterious circumstances, and still reeling from the trauma, the best friends spiral into a hedonistic lifestyle, partying to numb their grief while clinging to a small hope that they will one day find out what happened. When Elliot meets Will, he starts to think he can put the past behind him. But when Elliot learns Will has his own dark secrets, just as Jess is contacted by somebody claiming to be her brother, it sets into motion a determination for the pair to find out if Elliot’s romantically cursed—or being targeted.

The series stars buzzy actors Bilal Hasna (Extraordinary) and Vivian Oparah (Rye Lane) as Jess and Elliot, and the pair are joined by Penelope Wilton (Downton Abbey) and Peter Serafinowicz (Dreaming Whilst Black) to round out the main cast. 

"Dead Hot is exactly the type of dynamic series that we are excited to bring to Tubi audiences who have long been passionate about diving head first into rabbit holes of engaging, thrilling and genre-bending series,” Sam Harowitz, VP of Acquisitions and Partnerships at Tubi said in a statement. “Charlotte has created an incredibly clever world in Dead Hot with storytelling that is brimming with wild twists and turns. Having partnered with Nicola and the team at Quay Street we have no doubt that Charlotte’s unique vision for this series will have audiences guessing right up until the very end on this wild ride!”

The six-part series is created and written by Coben and executive produced by Coben and Nicola Shindler (It’s A Sin). Laurie Kirkham (Finding Alice) is producer, with Sam Arbor (Heartstopper) and David Sant (Significant Other) dividing directing duties.

“At its heart, Dead Hot is a unique thriller about heartbreak surrounded by humor and absurdity and I can’t wait for U.S. and Canadian audiences to be gripped by the brilliant world that Charlotte Coben has created and that has been brought to life by our outstanding cast,” said Shindler. “With plenty of twists, turns, and surprises along the way, expect the unexpected!”

The series doesn't have a U.S. premiere date yet, but since it just premiered in the U.K. this month, it will likely arrive Stateside sooner rather than later.