SKYSCRAPER

[11.20 - French Time] Rupert Murdoch's Sky ambitions to be a major player on the British drama front with shows like Chris Ryan's Strike Back or commissions like Mad Dogs or The Runaway, its second Martina Cole adaptation. And now Sky clearly wants a franchise equivalent to BBC's Doctor Who.

Sky1 has commissioned Sinbad, a modern take on Sinbad the Sailor, to Impossible Pictures - the company behind Primeval. The 13-episode series has an estimated budget of £17 million and will feature a 21-year-old Sinbad fleeing from his home in Basra, Iraq (the role has yet to be cast). Principal photography is due to start in Malta in February 2011.

Commissioned by Elaine Pyke, Head of Drama, Sky 1 HD, the series is exec produced by Sophie Gardiner and Tim Haines for Impossible Pictures and Annie Harrison-Baxter, Drama Commissioning Editor, Sky1 HD, for Sky. Grainne Marmion is the producer and BBC Worldwide is the international distributor.

Writers include Jack Lothian (Ashes To Ashes, Shameless) and Neil Biswas (Skins, Martina Cole’s The Take). Elaine Pyke promises "the ambition of Lost and the pace of 24".

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118022484.html?categoryid=19&cs=1
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/aug/03/sinbad-the-sailor-sky1
http://www.tvthrong.co.uk/sinbad/sky-reimagines-sinbad-21st-century