Amazon has signed deals with the author Neil Gaiman and the adventurer Bear Grylls as part of a set of moves that will strengthen its armoury for battle with Netflix in the fast-growing online streaming video industry.
The company is increasingly signing up star writers such as Gaiman on first-look deals, which give it first refusal on potential TV ideas, as it ramps up spending on original content in an effort to lock customers in to its Amazon Prime service.
The company also used an event in central London to announce it was bringing back the 1990s series Eco-Challenge with Grylls as host. Contestants will race hundreds of miles and be required to be capable of “mountaineering, ocean kayaking, repelling, caving [and] mountain biking” to finish the course.
Gaiman has already worked with Amazon on the forthcoming adaptation of Good Omens, the novel he co-wrote with the late Terry Pratchett. He said the series, which stars David Tennant and Michael Sheen, was written after Pratchett sent a letter on his deathbed urging him to create a TV adaptation.
“He wrote me a letter saying: ‘You have to do this because I want to watch it before the lights go out. You have the passion of the old girl that I have.’
“Then he died, which made it a last request, so I spent 18 months writing six scripts, reinventing it as television while trying to stay faithful – because we have tens of millions of people who would murder me if it’s not – but I wanted surprises.”
Good Omens was originally in development exclusively with the BBC but the scale of the production meant a partner organisation was needed. Gaiman’s experience working with Amazon on that project prompted him to sign the exclusive deal.
Other forthcoming Amazon shows include the psychological thriller Homecoming, starring Julia Roberts and based on a successful podcast, and Carnival Row, starring Orlando Bloom and Cara Delevingne.
The service also announced it had picked up a third series of the German drama Deutschland 83, which will go out under the name of Deutschland 89.
Netflix and Amazon services are investing billions of pounds in original content. There are no independent figures on how many people are watching their programmes, although more Britons now pay pay for a TV streaming service than subscribe to a traditional pay TV broadcaster.
In the UK, Amazon Prime Video is bundled with the wider Amazon Prime service, which offers unlimited next-day delivery on Amazon goods for £7.99 a month. Netflix’s basic package costs £6.99 a month, although customers have to pay more for HD streaming.
