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German broadcaster ZDFneo has joined the BBC’s upcoming drama Shy & Lola, an offbeat crime series from Clerkenwell Films and writer-producer Amanda Coe that pairs Bel Powley and Hayley Squires. The co-production deepens an ongoing creative relationship between the BBC and ZDF and will feature prominently in BBC Studios’ MIPCOM slate next month.
Casting and premise
The drama centers on two unlikely partners pulled into criminality after a local murder. Powley and Squires play the title characters: one an ex-model-turned-grifter arriving in a small northern coastal town, the other a struggling cleaner who dreams of moving to Portugal. What begins as exploitation of newcomers evolves into an unexpected flair for crime.
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Both leads arrive with recent high-profile credits. Squires, noted for her role in I, Daniel Blake, is also listed as playing Sally Price-Jones in the BBC/Prime Video series The Night Manager, which the report says will return for a third season. Powley is set to appear as Aunt Petunia in HBO’s forthcoming Harry Potter production.
Production partners and context
ZDFneo is participating in the project “in association” with Clerkenwell Films and Amanda Coe, the creative team behind the show. While the BBC and ZDF already have a formal high‑end drama pact that produced titles such as Honey, sources indicate that Shy & Lola sits outside that specific agreement.
The two broadcasters have recently collaborated on other projects, including A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder and the upcoming The Reluctant Vampire. BBC Studios also maintains a wider, long-term commercial partnership with ZDF and plans to market Shy & Lola alongside Channel 4’s ZDF co-production Break Clause.
Industry rollout
BBC Studios expects Shy & Lola to be a key title at MIPCOM. The series was listed among a larger slate disclosed earlier by BBC drama boss Lindsay Salt, who praised Amanda Coe’s scripts and said they will “surprise and amuse viewers in equal measure.”
What this means for viewers and the market
The announcement signals continued appetite for UK–German co-productions in prestige television. For audiences, the pairing of two character-driven leads suggests a blend of darkly comic and crime-driven storytelling rather than a conventional thriller.
