BBC3’s ‘Thirteen’ Cast Set; ‘Orphan Black’ Producer Has New Backer – Global Briefs

BBC Three’s five-part drama, Thirteen, has set Jodie Comer (My Mad Fat Diary) as the lead in the series that starts shooting this week in Bristol. She’ll play Ivy Moxam, a 26-year-old woman who escapes from the cellar that’s been her prison for the last 13 years. Returning home to her family and to her life, this is only the beginning of the story. Also starring are Aneurin Barnard (War And Peace), Richard Rankin (From Darkness), Valene Kane (The Fall), Natasha Little (Wolf Hall), Stuart Graham (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy), Joe Layton (Tatau), Katherine Rose Morley (Last Tango In Halifax), Eleanor Wyld (Misfits), Ariyon Bakare (Jonathan Strange And Mr Norrell) and Nicholas Farrell (Chariots Of Fire). Marnie Dickens (Ripper Street, Law & Order: UK) wrote the psychological drama that examines how to pick up the threads of a life half-lived and how to survive as a family under the greatest pressure. Thirteen will be directed by Vanessa Caswill (My Mad Fat Diary) and China Moo-Young (Humans); it’s produced by BBC In-house Drama Production, England.

Orphan Black producer Temple Street Productions has received a “significant” capital infusion from Fairfax Financial Holdings. Fairfax will take a majority stake in the Canadian company which is looking to expand its content creation, production and distribution operations. Strategic acquisitions will also be explored. Temple Street Co-Presidents, David Fortier and Ivan Schneeberg, and Managing Director, John Young, will continue to manage the strategic direction and day-to-day operations of the company. Temple Street makes a wide range of scripted and non-scripted content, including Killjoys (Syfy, Space), X Company (CBC), Being Erica (CBC, SOAPnet), The Next Step (Family Channel, Hulu) and Recipe To Riches (CBC).

The Ciudad de la Luz movie studio outside Valencia, Spain has failed to find a buyer. Reuters reports that the Alicante-based complex attracted only one bid at an auction, but it did not meet the minimum conditions of the tender whose base budget is 94.4M euros. In 2012, the European Commission upheld complaints about antitrust issues over funding from Valencia’s regional government to back the studio and ordered it to repay $294M in aid. Films to have done work at the modern studio include Juan Antonio Bayona’s The Impossible and France’s Asterix And Obelix At The Olympic Games. A second auction will take place within the next two weeks.

Related stories

Aneurin Barnard Joins ITV Beatles-Era Mini 'Cilla' From 'Philomena' Scribe Jeff Pope

Aziz Ansari Explains Casting His Mom And Dad In Netflix's 'Master Of None' - TCA

'13 Hours' Trailer: Michael Bay Bengazi Drama Peers Into The Myth

Get more from Deadline.com: Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Newsletter