PBS, Walter Presents to Air Belgian Crime Drama ‘Professor T’ Nationwide (EXCLUSIVE)
PBS Distribution and Walter Presents are set to bring Belgian crime drama “Professor T” to audiences across the U.S. “Professor T” will be the second international title distributed under the Walter’s Choice banner, the partnership between PBS Distribution, the home video arm of PBS, and streaming service Walter Presents, which brings non-English language drama to PBS’ regional network of broadcast stations.
The first season of “Professor T” is set to air on PBS broadcast stations across the U.S. from May 2. The 13-part series will also be available via members-only streaming service PBS Passport. The announcement follows the introduction of the new Walter’s Choice brand in February, which launched with Swedish crime thriller “Modus.”
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Bill Young, vice president of television programming for KERA, the PBS station serving northern Texas, said viewers were already “really responding” to “Modus.” “They will now have the opportunity to follow it up with ‘Professor T,’ continuing to solidify our ongoing efforts to showcase quality international drama to our audience,” said Young.
In the vein of hit U.S. shows like “Monk” and “House,” “Professor T” follows an eccentric but gifted professor and criminologist (played by Koen de Bouw) who unravels complex criminal puzzles for the police with his brilliant mind. Working at Antwerp University, he inspires students with his punchy teaching techniques, but beyond the lecture hall he is haunted by a host of neuroses that hold him back from getting close to people. Walter’s Choice curator Walter Iuzzolino called the character “TV’s rudest crime fighter,” saying the Flemish-language show was one of his “all-time favorite TV crime series.”
“Professor T” is already available on the PBS Masterpiece Prime Video Channel via Amazon. To date, the series has run for three seasons in Belgium. It has also been remade in Germany.
Last September, PBS struck a deal with Walter Presents to bring more than 300 hours of international scripted TV to PBS Masterpiece’s Amazon channel. “Professor T” follows “Modus” in making the further transition to linear rollout via PBS’ regional network of broadcast stations. More titles are expected to follow.
Walter Presents is a joint venture between British broadcaster Channel 4 and Global Series Network, which specializes in foreign-language drama series. The video-on-demand service debuted in Britain in January 2016 and launched in the U.S. in March 2017. It has since launched in Australia and Italy.
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