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Channel 4’s inaugural digital-original drama arrives with the kind of fanfare that suggests revolution, yet “Beth” feels like a tentative first step rather than a bold leap into television’s future. This 34-minute sci-fi thriller, carved into three digestible YouTube segments while simultaneously airing as a traditional broadcast, embodies the industry’s current identity crisis: caught between chasing younger demographics and serving established narratives about family formation that feel decidedly millennial-focused.

The premise centers on Joe (Nicholas Pinnock) and Molly (Abbey Lee), an affluent London couple whose fertility struggles have become their defining characteristic. After multiple IVF failures and miscarriages, their doctor’s advice to “remove the stress” leads to an unexpected natural conception. When their daughter Imogen arrives bearing no resemblance to her Black father, the story pivots from reproductive drama to something far more speculative.

Writer-director Uzo Oleh, transitioning from fashion photography to television, infuses the Hebrew-titled...

Last Monday saw the British TV Broadcaster Channel 4 release Beth – a project billed as its first ever digital original drama, which was not only broadcast traditionally on linear TV as well as on Channel 4 Streaming, but also arrived for audiences first on Channel 4’s YouTube. Ahead of that, Dn friend Nimi Raja sat down with Beth writer/director Uzo Oleh and producer Yaw Basoah for a chat about formats and the rich subtext peppered throughout their sci-fi mystery meets IVF relationship drama.

[Note: This conversation contains spoilers but you can watch Beth at this link]

Head to Directors Notes for more filmmaker interviews and to watch our daily selection of new short films. If you’d like your film featured on Dn, submit it here. If you’re not already, you should definitely subscribe to the Directors Notes podcast.

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When Beth was first commissioned, it made waves for its format as “Channel 4’s first digital original drama“. Billed as both a YouTube short form mini series of three episodes, and a 45 minute linear short. Given the industry’s current obsession with format experimentation and digital consumption, it was and is a moment, as audience viewing habits evolve and opportunities to shape what that means arise. One both writer/director Uzo Oleh (who last joined us here on Dn with his mind-bending sci-fi thriller Edicius) and Dark Pictures founder and producer Yaw Basoah are incredibly appreciative of. But to focus on the form alone would do this incredible piece of storytelling an injustice – it is first and foremost a distinctive narrative, beautifully told. A story of an interracial couple, their longing for a baby, struggle with IVF and moral battle with adoption. We meet them at their highest high...

Channel 4 has commissioned Beth, a three-part science fiction drama, as its first original drama specifically for its YouTube channel, as well as Channel 4 Streaming and linear broadcast. Here’s the Lowdown: Written and directed by Uzo Oleh, Beth stars Nicholas Pinnock and Abbey Lee as a married couple, Joe and Molly, who experience an […]

Beth – Channel 4 Commissions First Digital Original Drama...

British network Channel 4 has commissioned its first digital original drama.

“Beth,” written and directed by Uzo Oleh (“Edicius”), is a three-part science fiction thriller starring Nicholas Pinnock (“This Town,” “The Book of Clarence”) and Abbey Lee, that will broadcast on Channel 4’s YouTube, as well as its streaming and linear channel. The series was executive produced by Anna Higgs and produced by Dark Pictures and GroupM Motion Entertainment.

In “Beth,” Pinnock and Lee play Joe and Molly, a married couple who are deeply in love, successful in their careers and living the high life. But one thing is missing — a child. So when Molly falls pregnant after years of false hope, it feels like a miracle.

Months later, when their baby daughter, Imogen, is born, she’s as Caucasian as can be, with no resemblance to Joe, her father. As Joe and Molly’s life is thrown into turmoil,...

Edicius Review — Edicius (2021) Film Review, a short film directed by Uzo Oleh and starring Michael Socha, Stuart Bowman, Adesuwa Oni and Sahera Khan. Edicius is a very interesting new science fiction suspense thriller/short film about a man named Jason (Michael Socha) who must confront his life choices and either make a good or [...]

Continue reading: Film Review: Edicius (2021): A Unique, Intense Look At Trust And Decision-Making...

“The Suicide Squad” star Idris Elba has boarded Uzo Oleh’s short thriller “Edicius” as an executive producer, Variety can exclusively reveal.

The film stars “Chernobyl” actor Michael Socha as Jason, a man who works on behalf of a powerful gang. “When Jason uncovers the truth behind his most powerful client, he realises his life is on the line” reads the synopsis. “But a visit from his intuition, a man with his exact likeness, claims to have the answers to save him. All Jason has to do is trust him…but can he?”

Adele “Adesuwa” Oni (“Hanna and The Witcher”), Stuart Bowman (“Bodyguard”) and newcomer Sahera Khan also star.

Oleh, a photographer and director, has previously worked with some of the biggest names in entertainment including Elba, Cara Delevingne and Lady Gaga. His photography has appeared in Vogue and I-d Magazine as well as exhibitions worldwide. He has also directed a number of commercials.