Stuff the British Stole, the popular Australian-Canadian documentary series exploring the controversy surrounding cultural objects purloined by British colonialists, is set to be reimagined as a big-budget scripted heist series. The new version is backed by Warner Bros. International Television Production Australia (The Twelve, Love Me) and Wooden Horse (The Clearing, Mother & Son).
The partners describe the series, which will run for six, one-hour episodes, as “a provocative and sharply observed deep dive into the complexity of history, and identity, in our modern world through an irreverent and wryly humorous lens.”
The new drama is created and scripted by playwright turned rising TV writer Anchuli Felicia King, who wrote on HBO series The Sympathizer and The Baby, Amazon’s Deadloch and The Twelve for Foxtel. Ben Chessell (The Great, Giri Haji, Doctor Who, Deadloch) is attached to direct and also write episodes. The core creative team is joined by Kacie Anning (Class of ‘07, Upload, The Other Guy) and award-winning First Nations writer and playwright, Dylan Van Den Berg.
Marc Fennell, creator of the original documentary series, will join the team as an executive producer. Other executive producers include Richard Finlayson and Jude Troy of Wooden Horse, and Hamish Lewis and Michael Brooks of WBITVP Australia.
“Led by Anchuli Felicia King, the writing team, alongside attached set-up director Ben Chessell, have developed a unique cast of diverse and fascinating characters, who almost accidentally steal their way to becoming the heroes of a global repatriation movement,” the producers said in a joint statement. “If there’s one thing we learned from the brilliant Stuff the British Stole factual series, it’s that history is complex — a lesson our characters will learn the hard way.”
Fennell’s factual series was based on his internationally successful podcast of the same name. The first season of the factual TV adaptation enjoyed strong ratings on ABC TV Australia and CBC Canada, with a second season premiering on ABC TV in Australia on June 17. A third season is currently in development from producers Wooden Horse, WildBear Entertainment and Cream Productions.