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Even before it became a primetime sensation last fall, Greek drama “The Beach” had all the elements of a smash hit. Set during the summer of free love in a hippie commune on the island of Crete, the sun-splashed series takes a dark turn with a mysterious murder, setting into motion events that have captivated Greek audiences across more than one hundred episodes to date.

For the creative team at Foss Productions, which co-produced the show with public broadcaster Ert, “The Beach” was an opportunity to push the envelope in a way that hadn’t been done before on Greek television.

“We thought, ‘Let’s try to approach a long-running show in the same way that we approach a mini-series,’” says Orestis Plakias, of the Athens-based outfit behind shows like the Netflix original series “Maestro in Blue” and 2023 Series Mania competition selection “Milky Way.”

“We wanted to introduce something different to the long-running shows,...

Beta Film has acquired international sales rights to the Greek drama series “The Beach,” a primetime sensation for Greek public broadcaster Ert, the Munich-based production and distribution powerhouse announced on the eve of Mipcom.

The 24-part one hour series begins on an idyllic commune on the shores of Crete in 1969, where love and freedom intertwine, until a murder exposes the messy entanglements spurred on by the hippie residents. Yet even the straightlaced police officer assigned to investigate the crime finds he can’t resist the temptations of paradise.

Stefanos Blatsos (“Love After”) directs the hit drama set at Matala Beach in Crete with scripts from George Chrysovitsanos and Kostas Gerampinis. The cast includes Danai Michalaki (“Wild Bees”), starring as Hypatia, a London-based doctor coming back to her hometown, where she meets Harry, played by Dimitris Mothonaios (“A Day in the Life of a Teddy Bear”).

Since launching on Ert in early September,...