The Last Panthers
A fictional crime drama inspired by the Pink Panthers.
The Last Panthers is a six-episode Franco-British crime drama that blends fiction with inspiration drawn from the real Balkan jewel thieves known as the Pink Panthers. Created by Jack Thorne and directed by Johan Renck, the series debuted on Canal+ in France on 7 November 2015, followed by broadcasts on Sky Atlantic in the UK, Ireland, Italy, Germany, and Austria on 13 November 2015. It later aired in the US on SundanceTV in April 2016.
The story begins with a diamond heist that echoes the methods of the Pink Panthers, then moves into a Europe ruled by a covert network of gangsters and "banksters." The cast includes Samantha Morton as Naomi Franckom, John Hurt as Tom Kendle, Tahar Rahim as Khalil Rachedi, Goran Bogdan as Milan Celik, Camélia Jordana as Samira, Corinne Masiero as The Judge, and Igor Benčina as Zlatko Mladić.
David Bowie's track "Blackstar" was licensed as the show's theme song, announced on 6 October 2015, with 45 seconds of the intro shared. Renck praised Bowie's work as embodying the series' dark, brooding, beautiful, and sentimental qualities, noting his generosity throughout the process. Rolling Stone's Daniel Krep compared the track to the bleak instrumentals on Bowie's 1977 album *Heroes*, while *The Guardian* described it as Bowie at his most brooding.
The series score was composed by British electronic musician Clark, his first television commission. Renck, drawing on Warp Films' co-production, said it made sense to tap into the label's talent, and described Clark's approach as matching the story's biblical grandeur, darkness, and tenderness. Clark began the project on a porch in Melbourne with a viola and contact microphone, later recording strings through a mixing desk with guitar pedals. Renck pushed for intensity, telling Clark to make it "more satanic," before the score found its melancholy. Clark composed roughly 60 tracks for the six episodes; the soundtrack album, released on 18 March 2016 via Warp Records, condensed these to 19 tracks alongside new material. Clark described editing the score as a rescue mission from conventional exposition, resulting in an album that received generally favourable reviews, with a Metacritic aggregate score of 79 out of 100.
- Premiere date france
- 7 November 2015
- Premiere date uk
- 13 November 2015
Lore & Background
On 6 October 2015, international news media announced that David Bowie's pre-existing track 'Blackstar' had been licensed as the theme song of the show. The series score was composed by British electronic musician Clark, marking his debut television commission. Clark composed approximately 60 tracks for the six-episode series; the soundtrack album, released on 18 March 2016 on Warp Records, distilled these to 19 tracks alongside newly written material.
Reader's Guide
The Last Panthers is significant as a co-production between French and British television, premiering on Canal+ and Sky Atlantic in 2015. Its theme song, David Bowie's 'Blackstar', was released shortly before Bowie's death and drew attention to the series. The score by Clark, a Warp Records artist, was noted for its experimental approach, using contact microphones and guitar pedals. The series received generally favourable reviews for its soundtrack, with a Metacritic aggregate score of 79 out of 100. Its legacy lies in its fictional treatment of the real Pink Panthers heists and its brooding, atmospheric tone.
The Premium Drama Home
Sky Atlantic opened its doors on 1 February 2011, taking over the Sky channel 108 slot that had previously belonged to Sky 3. The channel was announced in late October 2010 and positioned itself as a destination for high-end drama in the United Kingdom and Ireland. While it did commission original British series such as Fortitude, Tin Star, and Gangs of London, its identity was built overwhelmingly around imported American television. Viewers could access the channel through the Sky satellite platform, Sky Go, and the Now streaming service, and—after a protracted negotiation that initially stalled over pricing—Virgin Media, which added the channel to its Stream and TV 360 packages in April 2026. The channel broadcast in both standard and high definition, using Sky's HD swap bouquet system so that HD subscribers found the high-quality feed on channel 108 while the standard version sat on 808. Elaine Pyke, formerly head of drama, was elevated to direct the channel's programming in May 2011, reporting to Stuart Murphy.
The Acquired Programming Engine
The scheduling spine of Sky Atlantic was not its own commissions but the vast library of American prestige television it imported. More than half of everything the channel aired came from HBO, a relationship cemented by a £150 million, five-year agreement that granted Sky exclusive UK and Ireland broadcast rights to the entire HBO catalogue, all new HBO series, and a first-look window on co-productions. In January 2016 the channel broadened its acquired slate by securing Showtime rights, though not every Showtime title made it to air—some were funneled to Channel 4 under a separate arrangement. When the Showtime partnership lapsed in December 2021, most of its output migrated to Paramount+, yet a side deal kept the series Billions on Sky. Looking ahead, Sky began pulling in titles from Peacock in 2025 and, by early 2026, had signed first-look co-commissioning deals with both Starz and Canal+, signalling a shift toward shared production rather than pure acquisition.
Viewer Access & Channel Infrastructure
Beyond the main feed, Sky Atlantic built a layered ecosystem of companion channels and access points. A one-hour timeshift service, Sky Atlantic +1, debuted in September 2012 and was shuffled between channels 173, 170, 217, and 208 over the following six years as Sky reorganised its electronic programme guide. For loyal subscribers, Sky Atlantic VIP offered a See-It-First perk: brand-new episodes of a hit series would premiere on the VIP feed roughly a week before hitting the main channel, with Riviera cited as a prime example. Because the VIP channel went dark whenever no fresh episode was queued, it was on air only a handful of hours per week and eventually closed in June 2019. In January 2024, select Atlantic titles began simulcasting on Sky Showcase, a window that ran until that channel's shutdown in February 2026. On the carriage side, BT TV and Virgin Media both explored deals with Sky at various points, with Virgin's talks initially breaking down over cost before a new agreement was finalised in February 2026.
The Streaming Era & International Reach
The landscape that Sky Atlantic helped define began shifting dramatically in the mid-2020s. The long-standing HBO exclusivity deal, renewed several times since 2011, expired on 26 March 2026 as HBO Max launched across the UK, Ireland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Italy. A December 2024 amendment to the Warner Bros. Discovery agreement locked in life-of-series rights for HBO titles released before that date—House of the Dragon, The Last of Us, The White Lotus, Euphoria, and Dune: Prophecy among them—while future originals such as the Harry Potter series would stream exclusively on HBO Max. Sky nonetheless planned to continue acquiring individual titles and to release new entries in existing franchises as co-exclusives alongside the streaming service. Internationally, Sky Deutschland and Sky Italia operated local-language versions of the channel, with the Italian feed also premiering home-grown Sky Originals like Gomorrah, The Young Pope, and ZeroZeroZero, demonstrating how the Atlantic brand stretched across multiple European markets.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is The Last Panthers?
It's a six-episode Franco-British crime drama centered on a crew of international jewel thieves, produced as a Sky Atlantic original alongside its Canal+ French counterpart.
Who created and directed The Last Panthers?
Jack Thorne developed the series, while Johan Renck served as director across the episodes.
What real gang inspired The Last Panthers?
The show takes its core premise from the Pink Panthers, a real-life Balkan criminal group famous for executing high-profile diamond robberies throughout Europe.
When did The Last Panthers air on Sky Atlantic?
The series premiered on France's Canal+ on 7 November 2015 and followed on Sky Atlantic across the UK, Ireland, Italy, Germany, and Austria on 13 November 2015.
What is the plot of The Last Panthers?
The narrative opens with a diamond heist and then tracks the thieves as they clash with a hidden European underworld of gangsters and shadowy banking figures who control the continent's criminal economy.
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