Richard Gadd doesn’t want TV, he wants HBO. The man who wrote and starred in the Netflix breakout hit Baby Reindeer will leave the streamer for more prestigious waters. He will create, write, and produce his next series with a co-producing assist from HBO and the BBC. “Ordering a HBO box set of The Sopranos, The Wire, or Oz and watching it from start to finish were some of the happiest moments of my childhood,†Gadd said in a press release announcing the news on June 27. “Since then, it has always been a dream of mine to work with HBO and be part of its iconic roster of shows.â€
Lions (working title) follows estranged brothers Niall and Ruben, whose reunion at the former’s wedding leads to violence. Forty years of the duo’s tense history provides plot for the series, covering “the highs and lows of the brothers’ relationship, from them meeting as teenagers to their falling out as adults — with all the good, bad, terrible, funny, angry, and challenging moments along the way,†the logline reads. “It will capture the wild energy of a changing city — a changing world, even — and try to get to the bottom of the difficult question … What does it mean to be a man?†It seems like Gadd’s new series is a relationship study as much as a treatise on masculinity, which isn’t surprising considering the for-better-or-worse emotional vulnerability of Reindeer. We’ll see how HBO handles it.