British producer Pat Tookey-Dickson, whose credits include Netflix’s series “1899” and BBC Studios’ hit comedy “Ghosts,” has boarded “A Remarkable Woman,” a period dramedy from Ukrainian-Canadian writer-creator Anastasiia Starova.
The project is being co-produced by Tookey-Dickson’s Right Side Productions in the U.K. and Canada-based A Remarkable Woman Productions, marking a transatlantic alliance around a story with strong feminist and international resonance.
Billed by Starova as “’Fleabag’ in a corset” or “’Emily in Paris’ à la Proust,” the eight-part series combines the allure of Belle Époque Paris with the chaotic energy of Gen Z storytelling.
Inspired by the diaries of Ukrainian artist and feminist Marie Bashkirtseff — considered the world’s first female influencer — the show revisits her last years in the 1880s, when she sought to defy mortality by curating her own image and fame.
In the series, Marie, an ambitious young woman of minor nobility, learns that her lung disease is terminal. Convinced she was destined for stardom, she embarks on a reckless mission to achieve fame before her time runs out.
While her wit, charm and determination bring her attention, her collapsing health, social prejudice and family tensions conspire against her.
The series explores the tension between self-expression and mortality, casting Bashkirtseff as a proto-modern heroine whose voice resonates more than a century later.
“‘A Remarkable Woman’ is the story of the first influencer — a tragicomic, modern voice breaking through history to speak to us today,” Starova told Variety. “It’s Belle Époque in all its glory, but tonally pure Gen Z: chaotic, raw and way too real.”
In development, the series has already attracted industry recognition, having participated in MidPoint Series Launch 2022 and winning Best Co-Production Pitch at Seriencamp 2025.
The blend of historical biopic, social satire and feminist edge aligns with a growing trend for hybrid dramas that anchor themselves in real events while pushing stylistic boundaries.
The producers of “A Remarkable Woman,” selected to play at Iberseries & Platino Industria 2025’s Co-Production and Financing Forum, are having currently holding private meetings with potential co-producers.
