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Television viewers in Russia are about to discover the highly-classified secrets of MI5 as ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Worldwide signs a deal with Fox Television which will see the award-winning spy drama Spooks broadcast across the CIS and Baltic states, it was announced at MIPCOM today. The Spooks deal forms part of around 800 hours of entertainment which have been sold by ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Worldwide across Eastern and Central Europe including hits Top Gear, Sherlock, Mistresses, Silent Witness and The Human Planet.

In addition to signing up Spooks, Fox TV have also acquired series of ITV romantic comedy Married, Single Other and acclaimed thriller Silent Witness, starring Amanda Burton.

"We are very excited to be bringing Spooks to Russia and the other CIS and Baltic nations," says Olga Zhurova, Channel Editor for Fox International Channels. "The Cold War may long be over but we think our channel's viewers are going to be fascinated by such a high quality drama about Western spies and the inner workings of the British Security Service."

In ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Worldwide's largest volume sale ever in Russia, Channel Five has acquired Sherlock and 225 hours of mixed genre programming across factual areas including history, science and natural history; Russia's Kultura channel has picked up 84 hours of programming including History of Science, Wonders of the Solar System, Lennon Naked and Muddle Earth; And Slovak TV (Slovakia) has bought a 52 hour package including programming for their ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Earth branded slot including natural history blockbusters Life and The Human Planet.

Heike Renner, ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Worldwide's Territory Manager for Eastern and Central Europe and CIS says: "We are thrilled to announce such a high volume of sales across genres to Eastern and Central Europe. From contemporary drama to science and natural history, it's a huge testament to the quality, innovation and diversity of British television."

In other deals: Motoring enthusiasts in the Eastern European Region are in for a testosterone-filled treat when Jeremy Clarkson and his fellow Top Gear petrolheads drive onto Russia's RTR2, Ukraine's First Automotive and Kazakhstan's Astana channels; The complicated love lives of Trudi, Jessica, Siobhan and Katie are set to absorb viewers in Estonia and Slovenia as Mistresses is sold to ETV and RTV Slovenia; Highly acclaimed crime drama Sherlock will be beamed into homes in Russia, Slovenia and Estonia as the contemporary version of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's classic story is acquired by ETV, RTV and Channel Five Russia; And the futuristic creatures of science-fiction hit Primeval S1-3 has been picked up by NBC Universal for their Russian/CIS/Baltic feed.

Lee Leschasin