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Sony buys stake in TV production company Bad Wolf

BBC Dafne Keen as Lyra Belacqua and Amir Wilson as Will Parry in His Dark MaterialsBBC
The BBC One drama His Dark Materials is produced by Bad Wolf in Cardiff

Sony Pictures Television has bought a majority stake in the TV production company responsible for His Dark Materials for around £60m.

Bad Wolf was established in 2015 by former BBC executives Jane Tranter and Julie Gardner to make high-end dramas.

The company, which will co-produce Doctor Who with the BBC from 2023, is based in Cardiff.

The amount paid by Sony has not been disclosed but is understood to be between £50m to £60m.

Getty Images Russell T Davies is set oGetty Images
Russell T Davies will also be the showrunner for Dr Who from 2023

Sony's investment is not expected to change the ethos of the production company, which has a strong Welsh base and has been credited with boosting Wales's reputation for television production.

The Bad Wolf Studio is housed in a former glassworks on an industrial estate in the city's Splott area and has been used to film His Dark Materials and Industry for the BBC as well as A Discovery of Witches for Sky.

While at the BBC both Tranter and Gardner were instrumental in reviving Doctor Who in 2005 and basing its production in Cardiff Bay to make high-end dramas.

From 2023 the executives will reunite with former showrunner Russel T Davies to co-produce the series with the BBC.