Elizabeth Macneal’s The Doll Factory gets series order from Paramount+ UK

We are thrilled to announce that Paramount+ UK has ordered a TV adaptation of Elizabeth Macneal’s Sunday Times bestselling novel, The Doll Factory. 

Set in London in 1850, The Doll Factory tells the story of Iris, who paints dolls for a living alongside her twin sister, Rose, and dreams of becoming an artist. Silas is a taxidermist who owns a shop filled with his creations. He dreams of one day finding an item so unique he will be catapulted to fame. Louis is a painter and member of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, searching for his next muse. When Iris meets Silas, and then Louis, she is offered an opportunity to escape and start a new life. To do so, she must abandon her sister, sacrifice her reputation, and launch herself into the unknown. But as Iris’ world expands, a story of dark obsession begins to unfold. The Doll Factory is  an intoxicating and evocative thriller exploring obsession, jealousy, art, passion and the disempowerment of women.

The six-part series is produced by Buccaneer Media (Marcella, Crime and Whistable Pearl) who are also producing C.J. Tudor’s The Burning Girls for Paramount+. The series is being adapted by rising screenwriter Charley Miles and Sacha Polak (Hanna, Dirty God) is on board as director, Suzanne McAuley (Magpie Murders, Maigret) is producer and Julie Harkin (I May Destroy You, Becoming Elizabeth) is casting director.

Furthermore, public broadcasters SBS in Australia and New Zealand’s TVNZ have pre-bought the series with Cineflix handling international distribution.

“It is the most surreal and wonderful thing to have my novel turned into a TV series,” said Elizabeth Macneal. “When I wrote the book, I felt I knew each character intimately – and what a treat it will be to see them fully brought to life, from Iris’s fire and zest to be a painter, to the taxidermist Silas’s hunger to have his name recognised. I always said I wanted to work with a screenwriter who was able to reimagine my novel in a new way for a new audience, and I am stunned by the wonder that is Charley Miles’s script.”

Buccaneer co-CEOs and Executive Producers Tony Wood and Richard Tulk-Hart said in a statement: “The combination of debut author Elizabeth Macneal with first time screenwriter Charley Miles is what this company is all about: emergent talent who will take the world by storm. To have SBS and TVNZ join Paramount+ at such an early stage is testament to the incredible writing of Charley. Cineflix also saw the potential of this very early on and we’re very happy to have them as distribution partners as well.”