Hulu

Newcomer and Lir Academy graduate Alison Oliver, who attended the same college as Normal People star Paul Mescal, will lead the series as Frances, with Sasha Lane (American Honey) starring as her ex-girlfriend and best friend Bobbi.

The series will follow Frances and Bobbi as they become entwined in a complex affair with an older couple. Jemima Kirke (Girls) will star as the enigmatic writer Melissa, while Joe Alwyn (The Favourite) will play her partner Nick, an actor.

Planet Sex will see Delevingne explore some of the biggest topics in human sexuality, including gender, sexual orientation, relationships, pornography and sexual tastes.  

The six-part series, produced by Naked, a Fremantle company, will see Delevingne open herself up to mind and body experiments and demonstrations in the world’s leading sex research labs, and speak to different communities about their experiences of gender and sexuality.

It is no exaggeration to say that Sally Rooney is one of the biggest names in contemporary literature. Her debut novel, Conversations with Friends, and its follow-up, Normal People, have won literary prizes and been fixtures in the bestseller lists.

When Disney announced that its eagerly awaited streaming service, Disney+, would launch in the UK and Western Europe in March no one knew that the service’s debut would coincide with a global pandemic keeping millions of people at home.

“With much of the UK looking for entertainment while they are stuck at home, Disney+ is likely to be a big hit,” said Shiv Pabari, director of media and entertainment at Simon-Kucher & Partners. “Families, in particular, will be excited by the content offered.”

Some feminists might choke at the idea that the highly controversial Barbie doll was actually invented by an ardent feminist. This was one of many fascinating insights to emerge from an RTS event devoted to a new feature-length documentary Tiny Shoulders: Rethinking Barbie.

The film examines the changing face of Barbie from a feminist – and occasionally anthropological – perspective since the doll’s debut in 1959.

However it ends, the battle royal for the right to own most of the assets of 21st Century Fox, and all of Sky, reflects deep and significant trends in global media. The resolution (in favour of suitors Disney, Comcast or both) may end up being less important than what the outcome tells us about market dynamics.

This battle is about the response of legacy media to accelerating shifts in consumer behaviour and to the threats posed by the big digital disruptors. In a market where content and distribution are increasingly intermingled and global, size unlocks the prize.

Sometimes, a single show can change the way a broadcaster or a platform is perceived. For the US streaming service Hulu, The Handmaid’s Tale – based on Margaret Atwood’s dystopian novel – has been one such show.

The 10-part series was made for Hulu by MGM Television (Hulu does not have in-house production capabilities) and quickly became water-cooler viewing on both sides of the Atlantic. It went on to win multiple awards, including a Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Drama Series and a brace of Golden Globes.

The second installment of the dystopian drama will follow Offred’s (Elisabeth Moss) journey after she is taken from Gilead, as it was left ambiguous at the end of the first series as to whether she was being sent for punishment by The Eyes, or to safety with the Mayday revolution.

As she takes steps to protect her unborn child from the threats of Gilead, Offred is also faced with her conflicting feelings for Nick (Max Minghella) following her discovery that her husband Luke (O-T Fagbenle) is alive and safe.

Based on the award-winning bestseller by Margaret Atwood, the show revolves around life in totalitarian dystopia Gilead, in what was formerly the United States. The show has been praised by audiences and critics, and was described as “the most timely show on television” by The Evening Standard.

The ten-part series, which stars Elisabeth Moss (Mad Men), Joseph Fiennes (Shakespeare in Love) and Alexis Bledel (Gilmore Girls), is the story of life in the dystopian Gilead, a totalitarian society in what was formerly part of the USA.