Silverlining shops Royals and renos
Realscreen. Andrew Tracy • 9th April 2024
UK distributor and production finance broker Silverlining Rights unveiled its spring slate at MIPTV this week, featuring a mix of standalone docs and docuseries, reno and Royals-themed programming, and a look ahead to the festive season.
On the factual front, the Silverlining slate includes the previously announced one-off Edward & Wallis: The Bahamas Scandal (1 x 60 min., Yeti Television for Channel 5), about the former King Edward VIII and his wife Wallis Simpson’s shady activities and associations during their WWII “exile” in the Bahamas; and science title Wonders of the Human Body with Michael Mosley (3 x 60 min., Storyboard Studios for Channel 5), which sets out to decode what makes our bodies work by exploring the latest discoveries about human physiology.
Luxe living is well represented on the slate, with a trio of titles beginning with Five Star Alpine Christmas (1 x 60 min., Ten66/Motion Content Group for Channel 4), which goes behind the scenes during the Christmas season at the Gstaad Palace Hotel, a celeb destination spot in the Swiss Alps. Further on the festive theme, Christmas at Longleat (1 x 60 min., Bright Branch Media for Channel 5) follows Lord and Lady Bath as they transform one of the UK’s grandest estates into a Christmas wonderland with the help of 50 artists and engineers specially flown in from China. Highgrove: The King’s Country House (1 x 60 min./1 x 90 min., Wildflame Productions for Channel 5), meanwhile, steps inside the private gates of this little-known country hideaway that is widely regarded as the King’s favorite residence.
Rather more economical dwellings are the focus of the BAFTA-winning property format The Great House Giveaway (Chwarel for Channel 4), in which two strangers are offered the chance given the cash to buy, renovate and sell a house, with the duo splitting the profits if they’re successful or losing it all if they can’t work together. Seasons one to three of the title are on the block, totaling 80 x 60 minutes.
The Great Amazon Heist (1 x 60 min., Zandland for Channel 4) follows writer, filmmaker and internet trickster Oobah Butler as he goes undercover to find out how Amazon really treats its workers, and also devises a scheme to hack the Amazon algorithm and elevate a fake product to the top of the best-sellers list.
Finally, Danny Dyer: How to Be a Man (2 x 60 min., Whitworth Media for Channel 4) accompanies the British character actor known for his tough-guy roles as he travels across the country to ask men from all walks of life what it means to be male in the 21st century.