Published Sep 25, 2026, 11:36 AM EDT
Ryan O’Rourke is a Senior News Writer at Collider with a specific interest in all things adult animation, video game adaptations, and the work of Mike Flanagan. He is also an experienced baseball writer with over six years of articles between multiple outlets, most notably FanSided’s CubbiesCrib. Whether it’s taking in a baseball game, a new season of Futurama or Castlevania: Nocturne, or playing the latest From Software title, he is always finding ways to show his fandom. When it comes to gaming and anything that takes inspiration from it, he is deeply opinionated on what’s going on. Outside of entertainment, he’s a graduate of Eureka College with a Bachelor’s in Communication where he honed his craft as a writer. Between The IV Leader at Illinois Valley Community College and The Pegasus at Eureka, he spent the majority of his college career publishing articles on everything from politics to campus happenings and, of course, entertainment for the student body. Those principles he learned covering the 2020 election, Palestine, and so much more are brought here to Collider, where he has gleefully written on everything from the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes to Nathan Lane baby-birding sewer boys.
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This article covers a developing story. Continue to check back with us as we will be adding more information as it becomes available.The early days of Walt Disney Productions brought with them plenty of storied classics that helped turn the studio into the titan it is today, from the original Snow White & the Seven Dwarves to Pinocchio and Cinderella. Yet, while their animated efforts get much of the focus, the live-action adaptation of Mary Poppins has similarly cemented itself in company history. Produced by Walt Disney himself and directed by Robert Stevenson, the original film adaptation was both an instant hit and an enduring favorite, setting a company record with 13 Academy Award nominations and still being viewed as one of their best, with iconic songs from “Chim Chim Cher-ee” to “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.” One person was famously not a fan of the fantastical masterpiece, though — the author of the Mary Poppins novels, P.L. Travers.
Now, Mary Poppins is looking to take flight once more, although this time, it’ll be a bit different than the famous Disney take starring Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke. Deadline revealed that a television series based on the titular magical nanny is in the works. More notably, it’s being adapted straight from the original eight novels penned by Travers, which open up the world beyond the home of the Banks children for a more surreal, mysterious, and dark adventure full of intrigue compared to the Mouse House’s more contained and saccharine London-set film. Tom Winchester is both producing and developing the show for Pure Fiction Television.
At this time, there’s no involvement from Disney in the project, but conversations are happening to see if the company is interested in coming aboard, given the place it holds in the company’s history. Their buy-in isn’t necessarily required for the project to move forward, though, since Winchester is working more directly with the trustees of the P.L. Travers estate. Things are still in the very early stages, with little set in stone and a potential showrunner yet to be found. See-Saw Films, the banner that’s helped produce such streaming darlings as Heartstopper and Slow Horses, is also backing Pure Fiction in the development process alongside UK talent agency Hamilton Hodell.
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Robert Stevenson
Bill Walsh, Don DaGradi
Mary Poppins Returns