Tony Jordan Making 'Gomorrah'-Style Crime Drama for Antenna Group - Variety

Acclaimed British TV scribe Tony Jordan is teaming up with Greece-based Antenna Group to make “Besa,” a crime series set in the world of the Albanian mafia. Antenna’s PRVA channel in Serbia, Planet TV in Slovenia, and RTL in Croatia will air the series.

Antenna will sell the show internationally, with the pre-sales effort getting underway at MipTV. Shooting starts in Serbia this month, with delivery slated for September.

“Besa” means code of honor in Albanian. The series will follow a family man who kills the daughter of a mafia boss in a road accident. To make up for the death and protect his own family, he is then forced to commit crimes for the organization.

Jordan, whose long list of TV credits included “Hustle” and “Life on Mars,” created the series and will executive produce. The show was developed by Jordan and a team of local writers. Jordan’s Red Planet is co-producing with Antenna.

“‘Besa’ is a hugely compelling drama, in the style of crime series ‘Gomorrah’ and ‘Undercover,’ that draws on a gripping local subject which explores universal themes of morality, identity and relationships. It’s a character-driven piece appealing to local and international audiences,” said Peter Smith, director of the Antenna Group.

He added:“Tony is an unparalleled creative talent, recognized around the world for creating popular and acclaimed drama series. We are looking forward to working closely with Tony and Red Planet Pictures to bring this immensely exciting project to life.”

Jordan said: “It is a great time for me to be working on this original European drama because there is definitely a growing interest from international audiences for high-end scripted content in other languages. The story and its carefully crafted characters will have global appeal.”

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