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EXCLUSIVE: Sky and the executive producer of Britannia have been slapped with a £6.5M ($8.5M) lawsuit in the UK by a writer who claims the fantasy Roman Empire series was stolen.
Britannia ran for three seasons on Sky before Deadline revealed its cancelation in 2023. Starring The Walking Dead actor David Morrissey as a military leader who spearheads the Roman invasion of Britannia, the drama aired on Amazon Prime Video and later Epix in the U.S.
Benjamin Crushcov, a writer and teacher, has alleged in a High Court lawsuit that Sky and other defendants misappropriated his idea and original script for Britannia, and then conspired to cover-up the drama’s true origins.
James Richardson, co-founder of Britannia producer Vertigo Films, is named as a defendant. The third defendant is Karen Hyland, a journalist who Crushcov accuses of taking a copy of his work and handing it to Richardson.
In a joint statement, Sky, Vertigo, and Hyland said there was “no basis” to the claims. In correspondence with Crushcov, Sky and Vertigo added that they were unaware of his script until he complained.
In his particulars of claim, Crushcov said he created a heavily fictionalized historical drama, titled Tribus, as part of his studies at Bath Spa University in 2014. He said his work has “numerous striking similarities” to Britannia, which was greenlit by Sky in 2016.
Crushcov alleged that Hyland, a former television writer at News UK, stole a copy of his script in 2016 and it was passed to Richardson. Crushcov did not evidence how his work switched hands, but alleged that Hyland and Richardson were acquainted. Hyland denied to Crushcov that she contacted Vertigo.
Crushcov claimed Hyland had been enthusiastic about helping him pitch the show and on “several occasions” mentioned sharing the idea with Richardson. Crushcov disclosed messages from Hyland in which she said 2016 would be the “year of Tribus” and that the series would “end up on Sky Atlantic.”
Robin Mukherjee, an EastEnders screenwriter who mentored Crushcov at university, found that similarities between Tribus and Britannia were “too many and too exact” to be dismissed as coincidence, according to the court document. A schedule of similarities highlights likenesses between character names and plot lines in the two projects.
Crushcov confronted Richardson with his concerns in March 2019. Vertigo’s then head of legal affairs replied: “We don’t believe that anybody involved in the development and production of Britannia was aware of the television series you were developing (prior to James receiving your letter in February 2019); it had not been raised by any third parties nor had your script been given to any of the creators or writers.”
In January 2020, Crushcov sent Sky a cease and desist notice about Britannia, prompting an investigation by the Comcast-owned broadcaster.
Sky responded to Crushcov a month later and said the drafting of Britannia’s final treatment was concluded in November 2013 by co-creator Terry Cafolla. Sky added that a final draft of episode one was submitted in April 2016 when Jez and Tom Butterworth were attached to the project to further develop it for the screen. The broadcaster added that Richardson “has never had sight of your script” and “has never met” Hyland.
Crushcov alleged that Sky made “fraudulent misrepresentations” in its response. He said Cafolla is not credited as a writer on the first episode of Britannia, and pointed to a 2020 interview with Jez Butterworth in which the writer talks about starting from scratch on the show because it “was at an impasse.” It is during this period Crushcov argues that his work was misappropriated.
Crushcov is seeking £6.5M in damages and compensation, including writer and creator fees and lost earnings. He is also seeking a public apology.
Sky, Vertigo, and Hyland said: “We are aware of a legal claim that has been made relating to Sky TV drama series Britannia. All parties involved consider there to be no basis to this claim and are in the process of responding accordingly.”
