Our customers choose to have Sky, so it’s our job to deliver content that they are passionate about. For me, that means making drama that feels extra special, rewards the viewer and offers drama lovers something different.

That gives me real freedom. If the remit is to offer something distinctive, risk-taking is actually the easiest route to success.

We’re commissioning for the whole entertainment portfolio here at Sky: four channels with distinct but complementary personalities. Being empowered to commission across several channels with individual identities is an exhilarating prospect.

We’ve got a brilliant opportunity to create some wide-ranging, far-reaching, great television. The challenge for me and my team is to ensure that there is an essential DNA to a Sky drama that runs through all of our shows.

There are three key ingredients all Sky dramas should have: scale, humour and emotion. If you look at a drama on any of our channels, those criteria should always be apparent. Hitting this brief right between the eyes is The Smoke for Sky 1, an eight-part drama set in a fire station, from playwright Lucy Kirkwood and those masters of scale, Kudos Film and Television.

[The Smoke image]

The drama is truly epic and the results on screen look amazing. Crucially, though, Lucy’s series explores the deep emotional connections and relationships between the team. It is a drama that questions what it is to be a man in a difficult, uncompromising world, and that’s what makes it so special.

Then, on Sky Atlantic, we’ve got The Tunnel, an outstanding serial killer thriller set in England and France that will premiere this October. It has scale through and through, but, as it’s directed with a genius touch by Dominik Moll, it also has real intimacy and emotion. Starring Clémence Poésy from Birdsong and Stephen Dillane from Game of Thrones, who bring warmth and humour to the story, I am enormously proud of this unique series.

[The Tunnel image]

On Sky Living, we have Dracula, a co-commission with US network NBC that, as you’ll see, has all the hallmarks of ambitious, confident US network TV. Jonathan Rhys Meyers leads the star-studded cast through a relationship-led story set in London; in the hands of the producers of Downton Abbey, this feels ambitious, but has a lightness, fun and energy, which is perfect for the Sky Living audience. Dangerous Liaisons with fangs.

[Dracula image]

And finally, on Sky Arts, we continue to push boundaries and experiment. We’re enormously proud of what we’ve done with Playhouse Presents... thus far, and have got a typically varied and brilliant line-up for the next series. 

We’ve got lots of other brand new dramas coming to Sky customers soon, from the UK, the US and beyond. I really hope you enjoy everything we have coming up.