ZDF Enterprises Teams Up with Endor on Crime Thriller Series, A State of Grace (EXCLUSIV

Publish date: 2024-08-26

Germany’s ZDF Enterprises has partnered with award-winning U.K.-based Endor Productions to develop and co-produce the new crime thriller series “A State Of Grace,“ based on the popular books by author-screenwriter M.J. Arlidge.

Arlidge will be adapting “Eeny Meeny,“ the first book of his bestselling collection of 10 novels, which revolves around kick-ass private investigator Helen Grace, the U.K.‘s most intreprid crime fighter who takes down criminals clad in leather and on her Kawasaki motorbike. In this series of six one-hour episodes, she faces a twisted serial killer whose tactics are baffling but even more horrific when they all start making sense.

Arlidge, who will also be serving as an executive producer alongside Endor’s managing director Carlo Dusi, said: “Helen Grace is the Dark Knight of Southampton, a troubled, brooding but exceptional crime fighter, whose taste for action is matched by her seering intelligence and moral courage.“

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“Remorseless, determined, kind and courageous, she is every criminal’s worst nightmare and every crime reader’s dream,“ he continued, adding:  “Over the past ten years, I have had enormous fun bringing Helen Grace to life on the page – I can’t wait now to introduce her to TV viewers.”

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The deal was brokered by Yi Qiao, director ZDFE.drama for ZDF Enterprises, who will handle worldwide sales, with Dusi. Qiao and Endor Prods. founder Hilary Bevan Jones will also executive produce.

Expressing her delight at partnering with Endor Prods, Qiao said: “Matt Arlidge’s brilliant storytelling together with Endor’s skills at producing premium dramas and their access to talent makes for a winning combination, and I can’t wait to see this thriller develop into a binge-worthy series.”

“Hilary and I fell in love with the formidable Helen Grace from our very first read, and are truly excited to be working with a writer of many talents such as Matt in bringing his chilling, unputdownable novels to the screen,“ said Dusi.

Endor Prods, which agreed to a multi-year contract extension with transatlantic production group Red Arrow Studios in 2020, produced two seasons of the acclaimed period crime drama series “Vienna Blood“ for Austrian Broadcaster ORF and ZDF that sold to BBC Two (U.K.) and PBS (U.S.). Its other credits include “Anansi Boys” for Amazon Studios, based on  Neil Gaiman’s bestseller; a forthcoming film for BBC One (UK), “But When We Dance” and two seasons of Matthew Parkhill’s “Deep State” – the first scripted drama series commissioned by Fox Networks Group, Europe & Africa.

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