The British crime drama Cooper and Fry has landed a US and Canadian streaming deal with BritBox, Deadline reported exclusively on Wednesday. The show, which has performed well on Paramount-owned UK broadcast network Channel 5, will now reach North American audiences through the British streaming service. Netflix has also acquired second window rights in the UK.
Adapted from Stephen Booth's bestselling detective novels, the series stars Robert James-Collier, known for Downton Abbey, and Mandip Gill, known for Doctor Who, as unlikely detective duo Ben Cooper and Diane Fry. The show is set in and around England's Peak District. Cooper is working to emerge from the shadow of his late father, while Fry is an outsider carrying tragedies from her past. Together, they investigate crimes in the remote countryside.
The series has already been commissioned for a second season by Channel 5, with filming currently underway. That second season is expected to air in 2027 and will adapt four of Booth's novels: The Devil's Edge, Fall Down Dead, One Last Breath, and The Murder Road.
The BritBox deal is part of a wave of international sales for the show. Buyers include Australian public broadcaster ABC, Discovery in Italy, Disney in the Balkans, and Virgin Media in Ireland. In Scandinavia and the Benelux region, the show has been picked up by BBC First in the Netherlands, VRT in Belgium, DR in Denmark, YLE in Finland, and SVT in Sweden. Japanese broadcaster WOWOW has also acquired the series.
The show is produced by Mike Benson's Clapperboard, which is backed by Studio TF1, the company handling international distribution.
Camille Dupeuble, EVP of International TV and Digital Distribution at Studio TF1, credited the show's format for its broad appeal. "Its strong crime procedural format, built around a compelling detective duo, gave it the recipe for a returning series from the very beginning and strong worldwide sales," Dupeuble said.
BritBox season 1 gives American audiences their first chance to follow Cooper and Fry before the second season airs in the UK in 2027.
