The new Batman Origins series ‘Gotham’ has finally found a home here in the UK.
Channel 5, who made news early this year by cancelling ‘Once Upon A Time’ and ‘The Walking Dead’ have picked up the UK broadcast rights for the series, which centres on a young idealistic Detective Gordon (Ben McKenzie) in the days before be became Commissioner Gordon.
The series follows Gordon’s rise from police rookie to commissioner as he navigates the corruption and villains of Gotham.
Partnering with police legend Harvey Bullock (Donal Logue), Gordon takes on his biggest ever case at the start of the series – the murder of Thomas and Martha Wayne.
He meets a young 12-year-old Bruce Wayne (David Mazouz) and vows to catch the killer, taking on some of the city’s biggest villains – Fish Mooney (Jada Pinkett Smith), mob kingpin Carmine Falcone (John Doman) and characters who will go to become DC Comics icons – Selina Kyle, aka the future Catwoman (Camren Bicondova), Edward Nygma, aka the future Riddler (Cory Michael Smith) and Oswald Cobblepot, aka The Penguin (Robin Lord Taylor).
Playing the role of a somewhat different Alfred to the one we are all familiar with will be British actor Sean Pertwee.
Katie Keenan who is Channel 5’s head of acquisitions waxed enthusiastically about ‘Gotham’ and said, “I don’t think there was a more exciting show at the LA screenings this year – Gotham is a thrilling drama built on iconic characters that fascinate.
“Channel 5 is delighted to become the home of such a powerful, bold and visually stunning show. Its acquisition proves we continue to be committed to the biggest in US drama.”
We can only hope that Channel 5 give ‘Gotham’ a better spot in their schedule than they did to ‘Once Upon A Time’ and some of the other shows that they have given the chop to recently.
Gotham airs in the US on Fox, and premieres on September 22. Channel 5 will air the show in the UK shortly afterwards.
