MIPTV 2018: BBC sells McMafia to Russia
Details
Rebecca Hawkes
| 11 April 2018

Russian free-to-air broadcaster Pyantnitsa, owned by natural gas giant Gazprom, has acquired the BBC drama series McMafia and Sherlock, as well as content from the BBC’s flagship natural history unit.

McMafia, an eight-part series set in the world of organised crime, was criticised by the Russian embassy in the UK when it first aired in January 2018, for what it called its ‘negative portrayal of Russians’.

The series stars James Norton as Alex Godman, the British raised son of Russian mafia exiles who is dragged into the criminal underworld. It has been shown by the BBC in the UK, AMC in the US and Amazon Prime Video in more than 200 countries and territories around the world.

BBC hit detective series Sherlock, which previously aired in Russia on Channel One, is also included in the Pyantnitsa deal, along with natural history titles Planet Earth, Planet Earth II, and Blue Planet II. BBC science titles Earth from Space and The Planets were also included, in the content partnership announced at MIPTV in Cannes.

“I’ve been a big fan of the BBC for almost 20 years,” said Nikolay Kartozia, general director of Pyatnitsa. “Their news, documentaries and dramas are all of the highest quality, so now as general director it is a great honour that BBC Studios has selected Pyatnitsa as a partner. It means that we are going the right way!”

“We are delighted to be partnering with Pyatnitsa on this superb package of content,” said Salim Mukaddam, VP and general manager for Central and Eastern Europe at BBC Studios. “Sherlock is adored in Russia and was the highest-rated non-Russian programme in the territory last year. We are looking forward to taking the show to a brand-new audience through this agreement.”