Apple Collaborates with BBC for ‘Alabama’ Apple TV+ Series Starring Imelda Staunton

Apple and BBC are collaborating for the first time on an upcoming dramedy for Apple TV+.

According to a report from Chortle, Apple is co-producing a new comedy-drama series for Apple TV+. The new dramedy series, titled Alabama, will star Imelda Staunton (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Downtown Abbey) and will be an eight-part effort.

Production on the new series is currently underway, reads the report, however plot details are still few and far between. It will reportedly be written by Andy Wolton, with Jim O’Hanlon (Catastrophe) set to direct. And if all goes according to plan, Alabama will debut on Apple TV+ at some point in 2020.

If the timeframe is correct, it would make Alabama one of the first confirmed “second wave” shows for Apple TV+. The first wave of shows includes projects from Steven Spielberg, J.J. Abrams, Oprah Winfrey, and Ron Moore.

The series marks Apple’s first collaboration with BBC, which has also produced shows with Netflix and HBO.



“I commission a considerable amount of content from the UK creative community,” says Jay Hunt, Apple’s European creative director of worldwide video and former Channel 4 boss. “It is exciting to have an organisation of Apple’s size coming into the UK and giving the sector here that level of scrutiny and support. Long before we have even launched our original commissioning strategy, millions of pounds have been spent on commissioning with British production houses.”

She added that Apple‘s total level of investment in this country would be “meaningful … there is no requirement for Apple to operate in the UK, so it is significant that we are here.”

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