Japan’s NHK Enterprises Picks Up ‘Sherlock: The Russian Chronicles’

Japanese public broadcaster NHK, via its business arm NHK Enterprises, has acquired local rights to Sherlock: The Russian Chronicles.

The 8×52’ series will air in Japan on AXN Mystery beginning Sunday, Feb. 14. The show originally premiered on START, Russia’s leading streaming service for original high-end drama, before later airing on TNT, the Russian entertainment TV channel.

The show gives a Russian spin to the stories of the world’s most famous investigator. The story unfolds against a backdrop of Russia’s most famous sites and landmarks as Sherlock Holmes attempts to track down Jack the Ripper, who has fled to 19th Century St Petersburg.

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To help him navigate this unfamiliar country, Mr. Holmes (Maxim Matveyev) is joined by new sidekicks, Dr. Kartsev (Vladimir Mishukov) and Sophia (Irina Starshenbaum). The pair bring vital local knowledge and contacts to help solve a series of mysterious crimes whilst facing conflict and interference from the local police force.

The series was produced by Yellow, Black and White’s local production arm and streamer START, in co-production with Sreda. It is directed by Nurbek Egen and written by Oleg Malovichko.

Operated by Sony Pictures Entertainment, AXN Mystery is a Japanese entertainment channel specializing in the mystery genre. The channel offers a trove of high-quality dramas from all over the globe, such as Miss Scarlet and The Duke (A&E); Van Der Valk, Midsomer Murders (All3Media International); POIROT, McDonald & Dodds (ITV); Art of Crime (Gaumont Television); and Death in Paradise (BBC Studios).

Said Yukiko Akiyama, senior manager of programming at AXN Mystery: “As we, AXN Mystery, specialize in the genre of mystery, it is our principal objective to acquire and broadcast tent-pole mystery-based IP such as Sherlock Holmes and Agatha Christie. However, that doesn’t mean that we broadcast every single series available – we carefully select only those that we believe mystery fans will enjoy. We selected Sherlock: The Russian Chronicles because Yellow, Black and White and START have made a version so unique and different from previous adaptations.”