January 26, 2012 5:53AM PT

U.K.’s Channel 5 buys ‘Once Upon a Time’

ABC skein licensed to more than 190 territories

LONDON — U.K. terrestrial web Channel 5 has bought ABC Studios’ fantasy skein “Once Upon a Time” to air in spring.

The series, which bowed on ABC in the U.S. in October, combines classic fairytales with a contempo storyline and is scripted by “Lost” and “Tron: Legacy” writers Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz.

Cast includes Ginnifer Goodwin as Snow White/Mary Margaret and Robert Carlyle as Rumpelstiltskin/Mr. Gold.

Disney has licensed the show to more than 190 territories.

Channel 5 has remained a big buyer of U.S. fare since Richard Desmond’s Northern and Shell bought it from pan-European broadcast giant RTL in 2010.

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