Opts against proceeding with adaptation of Frances Hardinge novel

Netflix has dropped plans to adapt youth-skewing horror novel Cuckoo Song as a series.

The 6 x 60-minute drama was an intended adaptation of the Carnegie Medal-shortlisted fantasy novel of the same name from acclaimed Costa Book Award-winning author Frances Hardinge.

Cuckoo Song

Cuckoo Song is the story of two warring sisters – one human, one monster – who must unite to reverse a supernatural pact gone horribly wrong, and with it mend their grief-stricken family.

Netflix’s adaptation had a premium creative team behind it, with Bridgerton, Doctor Who and Being Human screenwriter Sarah Dollard leading a writing team which also featured Andrea Gibb (Elizabeth Is Missing, Swallows & Amazons, Dear Frankie) and Corinna Faith (The Innocents, The Power).

Catalyst Global Media, which optioned the book and began developing the drama in 2016, and ex-Fifty Fathoms creative director Katie Swinden’s Doghouse Pictures were attached to produce.

Dollard was to exec produce alongside Swinden and Catalyt chief exec Charlotte Walls.

This is the second greenlit Netflix UK drama to be pulled from the streamer’s seven-strong 2020 scripted slate, following Broadcast’s revelation of the cancellation of Neal Street Productions’ football comedy The Red Zone, due to Covid-related scheduling issues.

Covid did not play a part in Cuckoo’s cancellation, it is understood the project fell away due to creative differences.

The SVoD announced both series as part of the $1bn investment in UK content.

Rowan Atkinson-starring Man vs Bee was part of the slate and landed on the platform last month, going straight into Netflix’s top 10 watched titles in the UK.

Other series, such as Joe Barton-penned Half Bad, Clerkenwell Films-produced Baby Reindeer, Joe Cornish’s Lockwood & Co and The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, written by Blood screenwriter Sophie Petzal, are all on-going.

Lindsay Salt, who commissioned Half Bad and Baby Reindeer, was recently announced as the BBC’s next director of drama, while Man vs Bee commissioner Chris Sussman has also left the streaming giant.

Broadcast has approached Catalyst Global Media for comment.

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