Japanese public broadcaster NHK has snapped up the first season of Australian mystery-comedy series The Inbestigators (10 x 24 minutes), also acquiring catch-up rights for its streaming service NHK Plus.

Produced by Victoria-based studio Gristmill in partnership with Screen Australia and Film Victoria for co-commissioners ABC and Netflix, the live-action series will make its linear TV debut in Japan on August 7.

The Inbestigators was created by Gristmill founders Robyn Butler and Wayne Hope, and features a group of 11-year-olds who run an Australian detective agency to solve school and neighborhood mysteries.

Both season one and a second 10 x 24-minute season launched on ABC and Netflix in 2019. Australian Children’s Television Foundation distributes The Inbestigators internationally, and Netflix holds the global SVOD rights.

Since becoming available for the first time to linear broadcasters outside of Australia last August, The Inbestigators has been picked up by RTVE/Clan TV (Spain), WildBrain TV (Canada), KAN (Israel), SABC (South Africa), TVB (Hong Kong), RTV (Slovenia) and Radio Television Slovakia.