Netflix Orders 7 New British Series, including 'House of Guinness' & 'The Undertow'

Ten years into the streaming revolution, Netflix is still one of the primary leaders in global original programming. The company came in with something of an unfair advantage. As a tech company, it could live in debt for years without having to worry about turning a profit, allowing it to rack up 40, 50, and sometimes 60 originals per month every month. Not 60 original episodes, mind you; remember, despite the new trend of diving up popular reality shows and hot dramas into batches, most shows still arrive in binge format: 60 full series and films. Meanwhile Disney+, Apple TV+. HBO Max (now just Max), Peacock, and later Paramount+ were lucky if they could scrape together 20 episodes in a good month, let alone titles. But now, as peak TV subsides and Netflix has reached profitability, those numbers are starting to recede to something more manageable. For the 2024 "Next on Netflix," the streamer announced seven new U.K. originals heading into production, but all look to be winners.

One benefit of Netflix's spaghetti-to-the-wall decade of content production churn is that it has burned through many creatives and discovered who actually has the goods and who is merely out there claiming to be worth the money. Luckily, they have only had one Carl Rinsch incident; most of their failures have been more Ryan Murphy-style mismanagement. However, they have found a lot of talent who work well within their system, or better yet, whose shows work well when presented in the Netflix binge-watch model style after they were made for other networks, the Shonda Rimes of the U.K., as it were. (Her Grey's Anatomy, a broadcast series for ABC, is still Netflix's most-streamed show, even more than Bridgerton, which continues to be one of Netflix's flagship series.)

Nearly all of the upcoming shows Netflix is planning to produce in 2024 to stream in 2025 and beyond come from creatives who already have hits on the streaming service, including Steven Knight (Peaky Blinders), Stephen Graham (Bodies), Matt Charman (Obsession), Guy Richie (The Gentlemen), Jamie Dornan (The Tourist), and See-Saw Films (the production house behind Heartstopper).

Starting with the only one that isn't from a recognizable name, The Witness is Netflix's safest bet anyway because the streamer brings over true crime documentaries from the U.K. month after month, and they always get watched. The Witness merely takes this a step further; instead of a true crime documentary, it's a three-episode docudrama miniseries based on the memoir of Alex and André Hanscombe. The latter became a single father overnight following the brutal murder of his wife, Rachel, where his young son was the only witness. The logline reads, "The story tracks how a father and son made it through the aftermath of an unimaginable tragedy, through darkness and into light."

Hailing from writer and director Matt Charman, who worked on Netflix’s Obsession and is best known for Bridge Of Spies, the five-part series The Choice stars Suranne Jones (MaryLand) as recently elected British prime minister Abigail Dalton, whose popularity is being threatened by a healthcare crisis. She co-stars with Julie Delpy (The Before Trilogy) as Vivienne Toussaint, the first female French president, campaigning for re-election. The cast also includes Corey Mylcreest, Lucian Masmati, Ashley Thomas, James Cosmo, and Jehnny Beth.

The synopsis reads: "A summit between the two women could be the answer to their prayers, if they can agree. But when Dalton’s husband is kidnapped, and Toussaint is blackmailed, they both face unimaginable choices. Forced into a fierce rivalry where their political futures and lives might hang in the balance, can they work together to uncover the plot that threatens them both?"

On the heels of announcing it was picking up the TV series version of Boiling Point, Netflix has also revealed it will take on Stephen Graham and Philip Barantini's next project, rather than allow it to go someplace where no one will find it. Like the TV series version of their kitchen nightmare series, Adolescence (which is a working title, not finalized) is a four-part limited series shot in a real-time, one-shot style. This time, the show is a crime drama rather than a timed cooking exercise, and it will feature Jack Thorne as the head writer, with Barantini directing and Graham starring. The rest of the cast is expected to be announced in due course, and the series to debut in 2025.

After scooping up both seasons of The Tourist to decent viewership in the U.S. (at least better viewership than on Max), Netflix is going all in on Jamie Dornan with The Undertow. The series is the English adaptation of Twin, the Norwegian drama series starring Kristofer Hivju (Game of Thrones). That means Jamie Dornan plays twins, so it’s Dornan vs Dornan, co-starring with Dornan. Double the Dornan, if you will. Other non-doubled co-stars include Mackenzie Davis (Station Eleven), Iain de Caestecker (The Winter King), and Gary Lewis (Vigil). (We won’t hold their singularness against them.) 

Here is the synopsis for Twin, which The Undertow will loosely follow: “Erik and Adam are identical twins, living completely different lives. Erik is a broke surfer bum, and Adam is a successful family and businessman. When Erik seeks out his brother for the first time in 15 years, a quarrel ends with Adam’s wife, Ingrid, believing she’s accidentally killed Adam. To avoid being arrested for accidental murder and to save his brother’s family, Erik takes over Adam’s identity, strongly encouraged by Ingrid.” 

From the team behind Heartstopper, Grown Ups is a new scripted adaptation of the best-selling Marian Keyes novel. The Irish Author is well known for her interconnected Walsh family novels, but Grown Ups is one of her biggest sellers, focusing on the Casey family, which, like Bridgerton, comes with its own family tree despite there only being one novel. That’s because the book is about the Casey brothers, Johnny, Liam, and Ed, and their three wives. The show will change Johnny’s name to Rory to up the Irishness of it all, but the wives will stay as they are: Jessie to Rory, Nell to Liam, and Cara to Ed. This isn't expected out until 2026, so no cast has been announced as yet.

As the book’s synopsis explains, “They’re a glamorous family, the Caseys. They’re a happy family. Jessie – who has the most money – insists on it. Under the surface, though, conditions are murkier. While some people clash, other people like each other far too much… Everything stays under control until Ed’s wife, Cara, gets a concussion and can’t keep her thoughts to herself. One careless remark at a birthday party, with the entire family present, starts Cara spilling out all their secrets. In the subsequent unraveling, every one of the adults finds themselves wondering if it’s time – finally – to grow up.”

The Gentlemen was a smash hit for Netflix, so locking Guy Richie down to do it again was paramount. The new project, Millennium Diamond Heist, is a shorter, easier lift, more suited to Richie's below em up shoot em down style, a three-episode docudrama, short enough he might be able to convince Jason Statham to board it. (Finger crossed?) The true crime series will cover what is known as The Millennium Dome Heist, where a group of South-East London criminals attempted to raid the De Beers diamond exhibition at the Dome in Greenwich in November 2000, which included the Millennium Star, a flawless 203.04-carat gem with an estimated worth of £200 million. The project was only just nailed down, so no cast attached as yet, but the men who attempted it were all older criminals from the pre-digital, Thatcher era, so seriously, Jason Statham would be perfect; I am JUST SAYING.

Finally, there’s the new Steven Knight joint, which Netflix is scooping up lest it actually find itself lost on MGM+ like SAS Rogue Heroes did, or god only knows where. Knight’s newest series is currently functioning under the title House of Guinness, but like Adolescence, that’s a working title and subject to change. (Especially if Netflix decides it’s too close to House of the Dragon, just beer.) The drama is a period piece set in Ireland that will trace, you guessed it, the drama of the rise of the Guinness Family and their famous stout. 

No cast, no filming date, and no release date as yet, which is not surprising, considering Netflix just⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ locked down Cillian Murphy for the Peaky Blinders film, which will begin production in the fall of 2024, and that’s totally happening first. However, there is a logline: 

“House of Guinness will tell the epic story of one of Europe’s most famous and enduring dynasties – The Guinness Family. Set in 19th-century Dublin and New York, the story will focus on the consequences of the death of Benjamin Guinness, the man responsible for the extraordinary success of the Guinness brewery, and the far-reaching impact of his cunning will on the fate of his four adult children, Arthur, Edward, Anne, and Ben, as well as on a group of Dublin characters who work and interact with the growing juggernaut that is Guinness.”