BBC, ZDF Board Teen Series ‘The Lady Grace Mysteries’

BBC, ZDF and France Televisions have boarded “The Lady Grace Mysteries,” an English-language teen detective series based on the best-selling collection of children novels by the same name.

The show, is produced by Cottonwood Media (“Find Me in Paris”) and Coolabi Productions, is penned by Daytime Emmy award-nominated writer Anna McCleery whose credits include “Free Rein” for Netflix, “A Kind of Spark” for CBBC/BYU and “Hollyoaks” for Channel 4. 

As many as 300,000 books in the “The Lady Grace Mysteries” collection have sold worldwide. The live-action show, which targets 8 – 12 year olds, tells the story of Lady Grace Cavendish, a female teenage detective working as a private spy for Queen Elizabeth I and navigating the dangerous waters of royal politics in an English court full of plots, threats and mystery. 

Federation Kids & Family and ZDF Studios are handling worldwide sales on the series. Manon Ardisson, head of fiction at Cottonwood Media, and lead director Alexander Jacob, managing director for Cottonwood Media Ltd, are set to produce the show.

“‘The Lady Grace Mysteries’ feels so fresh and gives our viewers the opportunity to spend time in a really exciting period of history, but in a modern and standout way, with a modern and standout lead,” said BBC’s Sarah Muller. “Solving mysteries is such a favourite too and with such a unique setting, it should be attractive to a much wider audience,” Muller said.

ZDF’S Nicole Keeb said “The Lady Grace Mysteries” will be a “high-quality costume drama that will fit perfectly into (their) portfolio.”

Cottonwood Media’s David Michel, Cécile Laurenson and Zoé Carrera Allaix said in a joint statement that “when Coolabi introduced the books to us, it was one of those precious moments when you can instantly picture a really cool TV show.”

“Packed with intrigue, wit, adventure and humour, the response from the broadcasters involved was incredibly positive from the get-go,” the producers added.