Scott's Treachery of Spies on track for TV drama

TV and film rights in Manda Scott's historical thriller A Treachery of Spies have sold to London-based production outfits Beaglepug Films and Enriched Media Group. The deal, with "active discussions" now said to be happening with senior production partners, represents both companies' first foray into long-form TV drama.

The deal was done via Emily Hayward Whitlock at The Artists Partnership working in association with Robert Caskie at Robert Caskie. 

The novel is the second in a trilogy of espionage thrillers published by Transworld and starts with a murder during the Second World War in France before unfurling its mysteries into the present day with a brilliant but haunted female detective as the lead, Detective Inspector Inès Picaut.

Harking back to 1940s France, a time where the men and women of the Resistance fought for survival against Nazi invaders, Beaglepug Founder and "Harry Potter" producer David Barron said: "Seeing the impact of the crime through the eyes of Inès, an ordinary woman with unique skills, only highlights how extraordinary the events were. I’m thrilled to be adapting this wholly distinctive piece of European IP for the global market."

Enriched Media Group’ producer and co-founder Mick Southworth added: "During these increasingly challenging and difficult times, we’re more aware than ever of the importance of innovative storytelling. Manda Scott’s painstaking and thorough research has enabled her to create a gripping, thrill-packed drama with a unique female protagonist solving a crime through two distinct historical periods and takes a close look at the world not dissimilar from our own through the history, the players, the victories and the spoils."

The Enriched Media Group principals are executive producers and financiers on Paul Schrader's "First Reformed" and they previously partnered with Barron's Beaglepug on the recent theatrical release "Escape from Pretoria" starring Daniel Radcliffe.

Barron was responsible for six of the "Harry Potter" film series, alongside producing films such as Disney's "Cinderella" and most recently "Mowgli" for Warner Bros and Netflix and "Escape from Pretoria" for Momentum in the US.