Brisbane TV show picked up by US giant

IN a major coup for local creators, a Brisbane crime drama has been picked up in a major distribution deal with US streaming service Hulu.

BRISBANE TV series Harrow is making waves internationally, picking up a major distribution deal with US streaming service Hulu.

In a major coup for local creators Hoodlum Entertainment, the ABC crime drama, set and filmed in Brisbane, will stream on Hulu from today while the service has also agreed to pick up the second and any future seasons of the show.

Ioan Gruffudd in Harrow. Picture: ABC

Harrow, which stars Welsh actor Ioan Gruffudd, Brisbane’s Remi Hii and Mirrah Foulkes, has also been airing on UKTV’s Alibi Channel since July and has become Alibi’s top rating show this season and fourth most popular ever.

The Logie-nominated series, filmed late last year, was the first from Disney’s ABC Studios International and was backed by Screen Queensland.

Co-created by Stephen M. Irwin and Leigh McGrath, the story about a genius forensic pathologist with a dark past featured Brisbane as a key backdrop and was inspired by real-life Australian crimes.

The Handmaid’s Tale’s Kate Dennis directed the pilot episode.

Filming on the second season will begin in Brisbane in November.

Brisbane series Safe Harbour, which aired on SBS, was also picked up by Hulu last month and has received positive reviews in the US.

Hulu, which is co-owned by Comcast, Fox and Disney, has more than 20 million subscribers in the US.

Hoodlum Entertainment has also recently filmed Australia’s first Netflix series Tidelands, starring Elsa Pataky and ­Madeleine Madden, in southeast Queensland.