Netflix has picked up British teen psychodrama The A List from the producer Kindle Entertainment, which is backed by Lionsgate, Deadline has learned. The drama series is produced for iPlayer, BBC’s digital platform.
The 13-part series follows Mia, played by Lisa Ambalavanar (Doctors), who arrives at a summer holiday camp in the Scottish Highlands expecting to be “Queen Bee,” but when the mysterious Amber, played by Ellie Duckles (Safe) arrives, her holiday turns into a nightmare. The show features themes of teen betrayal and psychological tension.
During this journey, a group of 12 teens discover sercrets that “lead to a dark and fascinating twist,” BBC reports. “I think the exciting thing for me was that in the script you could see it wasn’t just teen drama, it has a foothold in horror and rom-com, it’s funny and it’s dark – there’s a lot of different layers to it,” said Jacob Dudman, who plays the teen Dev.
Amy Buscombe, the commissioning editor for children’s drama for BBC, believes that the focus on character development explored a variety of themes including sexuality and mental health: “You can look at something from 10 years ago and realise we’re much more aware of diversity in all kinds of forms now, and about representing everybody,” Buscombe told the BBC. “In developing this show, it was about everyone having journey, not just the hot guy and the hot girl – everyone had to contribute something” Buscombe added.
Buscombe also said something about the theme of mental health: “With mental health it was important to acknowledge what a lot of people are going through and how it might affect them. What has been brilliant about making this for an older audience is tackling strong subject matter, but also holding their hand a bit and reassuring them that if they’re having a hard time there is a way out of it.”
Dan Berlinka (Thunderbirds Are Go! and Shaun The Sheep) serves as the writer of the show and Nina Metivier, who is the former scripted editor of the first season of Doctor Who and is currently writing her own episode for the second season. The series is executive produced by Anne Brogan (Dustbin Baby), who co-founded Kindle.
“The A List is an intense and powerfully addictive drama for teen audiences everywhere. Dan and Nina have created a dark and compelling world brought to life by incredible performances from the show’s incredible young cast. We’re thrilled that Netflix is introducing this haunting psychodrama to a global audience,” Brogan said.
The show is shot in Scotland, on the west coast. Netflix will launch the series globally, except for the U.K.
The series is available to stream on iPlayer.