AI Production Company Behind Controversial 'Actress' Tilly Norwood Partners with History Channel for Time Travel Series

Partnership Announcement

Particle6, the British production company that gained notoriety for creating AI-generated 'actress' Tilly Norwood, has announced a new partnership with the History Channel Netherlands to produce an AI-powered historical series 1

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. The 10-episode short-form series, titled "Streets of the Past" ("Straten van Toen" in Dutch), represents a significant expansion of AI technology in television production beyond the controversial synthetic actor concept 2

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Series Format and Concept

The series will feature Dutch historical investigator, author, and reality star Corjan Mol, known for his work on "The Curse of Oak Island," as he explores some of the Netherlands' most famous streets, squares, and canal sides 3

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. The innovative format will use AI to transport Mol back in time, allowing him to "step back in time and join the action in a cameo role" within historically recreated scenes 4

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Each episode will begin with Mol on location at a modern-day street, before AI technology creates immersive historical scenes using archival materials including paintings, engravings, and photographs to ensure historical accuracy 2

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. The series will feature both real historical characters and imagined ones to convey key facts about significant events in Dutch history 3

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Creator's Vision and Industry Response

Eline van der Velden, the Dutch comedian and writer who founded Particle6, describes this as the company's first series where AI is "majorly deployed on screen," though she emphasizes it remains "carefully guided by humans" 3

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. Van der Velden positions AI as a "perfect creative partner" that enables seamless blending of live-action footage from present-day Netherlands with AI-generated scenes from the same locations in the past 4

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Sam Pearson, head of short form commissioning at Hearst Networks, which owns the History Channel, emphasized the network's commitment to transparency and ethical AI use. "We will continue to explore [AI's] potential with ethical partners such as Particle6, using it thoughtfully, with clear guardrails and principles, while all the time being transparent with our audiences and sharing when they are watching AI-generated content," Pearson stated 2

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Controversy and Industry Backlash

Particle6 previously faced significant criticism from the entertainment industry over Tilly Norwood, with the Screen Actors Guild condemning the synthetic character in September. The guild stated that "'Tilly Norwood' is not an actor, it's a character generated by a computer program that was trained on the work of countless professional performers -- without permission or compensation" 2

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. The controversy intensified when reports emerged that Hollywood talent agencies were exploring signing Norwood as a client 4

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Van der Velden has consistently defended her work, arguing that "AI characters should be judged as part of their own genre, on their own merits, rather than compared directly with human actors" and maintaining that her work does not intend to replace human actors 2

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. The series is scheduled to premiere on The History Channel in the Netherlands in January 1

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