Entertainment

Jack Whitehall and his dad among stars lined up for new Netflix projects

Jack Whitehall and his dad among stars lined up for new Netflix projects
Jack Whitehall and his dad among stars lined up for new Netflix projects

Comedian Jack Whitehall will venture round south-east Asia with his father for a new comedy travel series on Netflix.

The Fresh Meat star and his dad will travel to Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia to learn more about the world and each other in Jack Whitehall: Travels With My Father, which beings shooting later this month.

Ted Sarandos, chief content officer of Netflix, announced the new show while unveiling a raft of new projects for the streaming service to press in Berlin.

Jack Whitehall (Dominic Lipinski/PA)

He also said comedian Chelsea Handler would travel to the UK and team up with Eddie Izzard to give her take on Brexit in a new series of her Netflix talk show.

Chelsea would be addressing the British class system, as well as French politics and Indian weddings, when her show Chelsea returned for a second series on April 14.

Back in Los Angeles, she would also be having revealing conversations with celebrities and politicians in front of a live studio audience.

In addition, Ted said the BBC’s previously-announced drama about the fall of Troy would be a co-production with Netflix.

Troy: Fall Of A City would be written by The Night Manager’s David Farr and centre on the events of the Trojan War and the love affair between Paris and Helen.While the show would premiere on the BBC in the UK, it will stream on Netflix around the world.It was due to start filming on location in South Africa this month.The online service would also team up with BBC Two for Black Earth Rising, a thriller about the prosecution of international war crimes written and directed by Hugo Blick, which was set to air on the broadcaster in the UK and on Netflix in other territories.It would also partner with French broadcaster Canal Plus to bring thriller The Spy to viewers outside of France.The show tells the true story of Israel’s most prominent spy Eli Cohen, who operated undercover in Syria in the 1960s.

Announcing the new partnerships, Ted said: “We have filmed shows in 17 countries outside the US including the UK, France, Iceland, Spain, Germany, Italy and Hungary.

“Great stories can travel and find an appreciative audience outside the country of origin.”

Citing the hit show about drug kingpin Pablo Escobar, he added: “Narcos was a real eye-opener for us, people all over the world loved this show.

“Language and location are no barrier, quality storytelling is what we look for.

“We have sought out the expertise of biggest linear cable networks to jointly create more ambitious programming.

“Like any relationship there is occasional friction with broadcasters over rights but we have mainly got past that.”