Future of hit BBC drama The Jetty revealed after leading lady Jenna Coleman takes break from acting
TWISTY thriller The Jetty, which starred Jenna Coleman in the lead role, has proved such a hit that the creators are in talks about doing a second series.
The first episode debuted on BBC One in July and drew an impressive audience of 8million viewers, on the night and through catch-up.
Now the Beeb want to catch the wind in their sails and persuade writer Cat Jones to deliver a follow-up, but the whole process remains at an early stage.
A TV insider said: “There are several hoops they need to jump through before it gets to the stage where it will definitely happen.
“Leading lady Jenna, who was also an executive producer on the drama, has recently had a child with partner Jamie Childs and so is likely to be taking a break from work for some time.
“But anyone who watched the first series will also know that continuing the story will be tricky, but not impossible.
“Even if they made speedy progress, filming would be unlikely to start until late next year with the final series not airing until 2026.”
Jenna had attracted attention at the launch of the drama in the summer, mainly because she turned up with a rather large baby bump on show.
It had only been revealed days earlier that she was pregnant, but in a Q&A session at the event she didn’t mention her impending motherhood once, preferring to focus solely on The Jetty.
The four-parter was set in Lancashire and pivoted around the central character of DC Ember Manning, played by former Doctor Who and Victoria actress Jenna.
It begins with her investigating a fire in a holiday home which then segues into an old missing person case.
But it reaches a curveball conclusion that stunned many viewers.
Good luck trying to outdo themselves by beating that ending . . .
The BBC declined to comment.
ELEMENTARY, MY DEAR COLIN
HATS off to Colin Firth for transforming himself for his latest role in Prime Video’s upcoming series, Young Sherlock.
The Love Actually and Bridget Jones star often seems to play parts which are rather similar, certainly when it comes to their appearance.
But Colin is virtually unrecognisable as he takes on the role of Sir Bucephalus Hodge in the adaptation of Andrew Lane’s novels by director and executive producer Guy Ritchie.
Hero Fiennes Tiffin plays the lead role of a 19-year-old Sherlock who gets caught up in a murder mystery at Oxford University.
He’ll also star alongside his uncle Joseph Fiennes.
Colin will soon be seen in a very different drama, playing campaigner and grieving father Jim Swire in the Sky show Lockerbie: A Search For Truth, out on January 2.
HEAT’S ON FOR BAKE OFF TRIO
THE Great British Bake Off finalists will be hoping they rise to the occasion in tonight’s grand finale.
Georgie Grasso, Christiaan De Vries and Dylan Bachelet will bake scones and prepare a lavish afternoon tea.
But even if they don’t they all feel like winners regardless.
Nurse Georgie said: “The production team told me I’m the first ever Welsh finalist.
“ I felt like I’ve done it for not only myself, but for Wales.
Menswear designer Christiaan, 33, said: “The moment we heard we were finalists, we were over the moon.”
And retail temp Dylan, 20, added: “I learned a lot from the others and added that he had “loved” the signature baking challenge.
Judges Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith will crown their winner tonight on Channel 4 at 8pm.
SKY has researched the top ten TV phrases of 2024.
“Gladiators, ready” topped the poll, with “I am a Faithful” from The Traitors in second place and “Sent from iPhon” from Baby Reindeer third.
Others include “Be honest!”, which you may remember from the Netflix Beckham docu.
BIKER SI TRIBUTE TO DAVE
HAIRY BIKER Si King will celebrate the life of best friend Dave Myers, in a one-off BBC documentary that airs over the festive period.
He will pick out memorable moments from the duo’s past 25 years on telly careers, which saw them break the mould of cookery shows.
The show will include the time 45,000 bikes joined Si on a memorial journey from London to Dave’s hometown of Barrow-in-Furness in April this year, following his death, aged 66, in February.
The show is one of a raft of BBC Factual shows on this Christmas and New Year including Inside The Factory with Paddy McGuinness in a Belgian chocolate plant, The Repair Shop At Christmas, Mary Makes Christmas with Mary Berry as well as The Great Christmas Sewing Bee.
BRADLEY WALSH, Brian Conley, Shane Richie and Joe Pasquale are taking their Prat Pack on tour.
The men hit the road next spring with tickets on sale this Friday at Ticketmaster.co.uk.
Bradley said: “People are starved of our type of entertainment, songs, jokes and banter!”