Award-winning Spanish period drama Grand Hotel opens its doors on Sky Arts
‘The television sensation of the year’ El Periodico
Series (9x60mins) starts from Sunday 18 November at 8pm, Sky Arts 2 HD
18/10/2012: The five star Spanish ‘television sensation of the year’ checks into the UK as Sky Arts announces that it has acquired the acclaimed foreign language period drama Grand Hotel. The lavish nine-part series will receive its UK premiere on 18th November at 8pm on Sky Arts 2 HD and Sky Go.
Described as ‘the television sensation of the year’ by Spanish newspaper El Periodico, the drama has been d as ‘a homage to Downtown Abbey’ by El Mundo critic Alberto Rey who affirmed that the series ‘set the bar high’ for other Spanish television productions. Grand Hotel has been the recipient of a variety of Spanish National TV Academy awards including best actress for Concha Velasco, Best Director of Photography and Best Set Design for a drama.
Set in 1905, the series follows the story of Julio, a young man determined to discover the truth behind his sister’s mysterious disappearance from the Grand Hotel where she had been working as the head chambermaid. The dashing and handsome Julio infiltrates the luxury hotel in the guise of a footman and begins his investigation into the bizarre array of guests, inhabitants and workers of the hotel.
It’s not long before he attracts the attention of Alicia, the hotel proprietor’s ravishingly beautiful daughter, who is being forced to marry the ambitious, calculating hotel manager for the sake of the family business. As romance between the headstrong Alicia and Julio blossoms she discovers his true identity and mission. She agrees to help him and, defying the wishes of her father and family, they begin to uncover a web of dark secrets wrapped up in the daily life of the hotel.
Combining mystery, romance and intrigue with an array of colorful characters that span the social divisions of turn-of-the-century Spanish society, Grand Hotel was original broadcast in Spain on the Antena 3 Network and will broadcast on Sky Arts 2 HD and Sky Go in Spanish with English subtitles.
“Sky Arts really is the home of award-winning foreign drama, with the success of series including Prisoners of War - the original Homeland - Maison Close and Romanzo Criminale. The lavish series Grand Hotel is a fine addition to this strand,” comments James Hunt, Channel Director of Sky Arts.
“Beautifully shot with sumptuous period sets and an intriguing plot, it’s easy to see why it has won so much critical and audience acclaim. We’re delighted to be able to bring one of Spain’s finest period dramas to the UK for the first time exclusively on Sky Arts.”
The commitment to foreign drama reflects Sky’s promise to deliver high-quality, exclusive content to customers, supported by a commitment to increase investment in programming to £600 million by 2014, an increase of more than 50% over three years.
Grand Hotel starts Sunday 18 November at 8pm on Sky Arts 2 HD and Sky Go
NOTES TO EDITOR
For more information or to request interviews or images please contact:
Katherine Solomon katherine.solomon@bskyb.com 020 7032 0599
Dominic Collett dominic.collett@bskyb.com 020 7032 4892
About Sky Arts
Sky Arts offers an eclectic mix of the best music, arts, biographies, chat shows, film, drama and comedy. Sky is the only broadcaster in the UK and Ireland with channels dedicated solely to the arts, with 48 hours of the best arts content from around the world across Sky Arts 1 and Sky Arts 2 daily. Sky Arts now reaches more than 6 million viewers every month.
Recent highlights include Playhouse Presents… a series of one-off comedies and dramas starring the cream of British talent including Emma Thompson, Sir Tom Jones, Brenda Blethyn, David Tennant and Alison Steadman. The channel was also responsible for resurrecting the much-loved South Bank Show and The South Bank Show Awards. Sky Arts also encourages new formats and methods for accessing the arts, working with the ENO and National Gallery to beam the world’s first live opera and first live opening night of an exhibition in 3D to cinemas across the UK and Ireland.
Sky Arts also seeks to connect with culture on the ground; creating and collaborating with the best of the arts in the UK and Ireland to bring new experiences to life. Sky Arts has collaborated with a number of arts organisations including the English National Ballet and has supported the Hay Festival as broadcast partner since 2006. The Sky Arts Ignition Series launched in in 2011 to invest in the arts landscape of the UK. The Series will seek to collaborate with six arts organisations over the next three years in the creation of brand new works; Sky Arts Ignition Series: Futures Fund will support five young artists with a bursary of £30,000 each, enabling Sky Arts to back the creation of new works of art as well as nurture emerging talent.
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