Joanne Froggatt and Michael Sheen titles come to STV Player as part of new Sony Pictures Television deal

Seven new international drama titles included in STV Player’s first content deal of the year.

STV Player has signed with Sony Pictures Television (SPT) for its first content deal of 2022, which will see seven new international drama series added to the free streaming service.

Leading the batch of new titles is the critically-acclaimed dystopian thriller The Commons, starring Joanne Froggatt (Downton Abbey, Angela Black). The eight-part series – set in Australia in the not-so-distant future as the devastating impact of climate change is taking hold – follows a neuropsychologist who is desperate to become a mother at a time when bringing a child into the world is far more complicated than it used to be.

First screened on Australian streaming platform Stan, The Commons – described by The Guardian as “eerily plausible and uncomfortably timely” – will make its UK debut on STV Player.

Also coming to the platform as part of the SPT deal is all four series of Michael Sheen-starring period drama, Masters of Sex. The American series, which earned Sheen a Golden Globe Best Actor nomination, also stars Lizzy Caplan (Inside Job) and Allison Janney (The West Wing), and tells the fascinating true story of sexual research pioneers William H. Masters and Virginia E. Johnson.

The five other new drama series in the content deal are Necessary Roughness, The Art of More, The Player, Sequestered and The Mob Doctor. All of the titles will be available to viewers across the UK, following STV Player’s launch on all major UK platforms in 2020.

The SPT deal follows a pivotal year for STV Player in 2021, with the platform’s exceptional performance ensuring it remained the UK’s fastest-growing broadcaster streaming service. 173 new titles were added throughout the year and, for the first time, STV Player was nominated in the Best On-Demand Service category at the Edinburgh TV Festival Awards.

Richard Williams, MD of Digital, STV:

“High-quality international drama is in STV Player’s DNA, so we’re delighted to be adding even more critically-acclaimed series to the platform as part of this wide-ranging new deal with SPT.  As a relatively new player in the UK streaming industry, building strong connections with our growing audience is critical for us. We’re achieving this by regularly adding new high-quality content – like the fantastic titles in the SPT deal – whilst always working closely with our platform partners, and continually updating our product to enhance the user experience.”