BBC goes interactive with new TV series that includes online gameplay

BBC Switch has commissioned digital production company Conker Media, to create and produce an interactive, digital drama thriller for its teen audience.

The new show, to be titled The Well, will air this fall in the Switch zone on BBC Two in the U.K. (Saturdays 12noon-2.00pm) and will contain extended material online at bbc.co.uk/switch, where the audience can immerse themselves further in the story, exploring an eerily atmospheric recreation of the main drama location in a multi-level game. By engaging with The Well online through completing a series of tasks and challenges, the audience can unlock hidden dramatic content that reveals the backstory to the TV drama.

The entire experience has been created by the “Godfather of young adult fiction”, Melvin Burgess, winner of the Carnegie Medal and the Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize. The Well represents his first foray into digital media and television.

The cast includes newcomer Karen Gillan, who was recently announced as Doctor Who’s new assistant.

The action in The Well centers on a derelict building that contains a long forgotten well, which is the resting place of a dormant malevolent force. When the house changes owners and renovations commence, four teenage friends uncover the well and unwittingly unleash an old and restless spirit.

The Well forms an integral part of Switch’s new season of drama airing on BBC Two this fall, which also includes The Cut, a brand new multi-platform soap which will air in five-minute episodes on bbc.co.uk/switch and a weekly TV omnibus and Fresh, a seven-part comedy series about freshman university students.