Hearst Networks UK and Super Channel order 20-part true-crime series Missing Pieces
Hearst Networks UK and Canada's Super Channel have ordered Missing Pieces, a 20-part true-crime series.
The commission, reported on 14 October, covers two seasons of 10 episodes. Both seasons will be shot back-to-back, meaning filmed one after the other in a single organised production block, according to Deadline.
Each episode runs for an hour. Each one starts with a single dismembered body part.
A severed limb. A torso. From that discovery, the episode reconstructs the murder and the work to identify the victim.
That investigation runs through DNA evidence, missing persons reports, digital trails and forensic analysis. The stories are told with contributions from the investigators, witnesses, family members and experts closest to each case.
The series comes from Black Watch Entertainment, the Manitoba-based production organisation behind the show. The company was founded in 2010. Alison Reid serves as showrunner, the person who leads the creative direction of a series day to day.
Meghan Duffy is executive producer for Black Watch, alongside executive producer Mark Marabella. Diana Carter is executive producer for Hearst. Kim Ball is executive in charge of production for Super Channel, the broadcaster role that oversees the production on the channel's behalf.
ITV Studios is attached as international distributor, meaning it handles sales of the finished show outside the commissioning broadcasters' own markets. That type of deal decides where else viewers around the world can eventually find a series.
The production also qualifies for provincial tax credits of up to 65% with no CanCon requirements needed. CanCon, short for Canadian content, refers to the domestic-content rules that often shape how programmes qualify as Canadian.
What makes this stand out is the size of the commitment. A 20-episode order filmed together gives the production team continuous work across two seasons, and it means the second set of ten cases is already in the pipeline once the first airs.
