Emilia Fox, Hayley Atwell, Kerry Fox, Santiago Cabrera and Bernard Hill also join for the first two-part story

THE BLIND MAN OF SEVILLE

London, 20th February 2012: Sky Atlantic HD today announces the start of production for the first two-part FALCÓN story, based on Robert Wilson’s bestselling Javier Falcón novels, which starts production in Seville this week.

The role of Javier Falcón, a Chief Inspector in the Seville police, will be played by Marton Csokas, best known as Elven Lord Celeborn in Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy as well as appearing alongside Helen Mirren in The Debt. Falcón is a brilliant detective whose personal and professional life is compromised by dark secrets from the past in this ambitious and complex new series.

FALCÓN: The Blind Man of Seville, follows Falcón‘s investigation into a brutal killing which stirs long forgotten memories. As Falcón investigates the crime, and finds himself drawn to the widow of the victim, he finds that the recent crimes in Seville seem to have echoes with his own family history.

Joining Csokas in FALCÓN: The Blind Man Of Seville are Charlie Creed-Miles (The Fifth Element, Harry Brown) as Ramirez, Falcón’s deputy in the Seville Police and Hayley Atwell (Captain America, Any Human Heart) as Consuelo Jimenez, the widow of a murder victim who may also be the number one suspect. Emilia Fox (Silent Witness, The Pianist) will play Ines, the estranged wife of Falcón, whilst Kerry Fox (Cloudstreet, Shallow Grave) is his sister, Manuela.

Veteran actor Bernard Hill (Titanic, The Lord of The Rings) takes the role of Ramon Salgado, wealthy art dealer and friend of Falcón’s father, the renowned, but now deceased artist Francisco Falcón. Santiago Cabrera (Merlin, Heroes) will play Judge Esteban Calderon

Falcón himself is a complex and layered character, with a psychological darkness which mirrors the brutal darkness which surrounds him in Seville.  An innately sexual and charismatic character, Falcón is forceful and focussed, willing to ignore the distinction between the law and criminals and embrace his own flaws and addictions when he has to.

The second 2 x 60’ FALCÓN story to be filmed will be The Silent and the Damned, in which a suicide takes Falcón to an exclusive area of Seville where wealthy neighbours keep their secrets well hidden and there’s more in the freezer than just food.

FALCÓN will be Sky Atlantic HD’s second original UK drama commission; following HIT + MISS, starring Chloë Sevigny, which premieres on the channel in May 2012.

FALCÓN is a Mammoth Screen production exclusively for Sky Atlantic HD, in co-production with Canal + Spain, Network Movie, ZDF and ZDF Enterprises. The series is Produced by Julia Stannard (United, The Awakening) and Executive Produced by Michele Buck and Damien Timmer for Mammoth Screen and Huw Kennair Jones for Sky. Executive Producers for Canal+ are Daniel Cebrián

and Susana Herrera. Peter Nadermann, Klaus Bassiner and Wolfgang Feindt are Executive Producers for ZDF. The first story is Directed by Pete Travis (Endgame, Vantage Point) and written by Stephen Butchard (Five Daughters, House of Saddam).  FALCÓN was commissioned by Anne Mensah.  The series will exclusively air on Sky Atlantic HD and Sky Atlantic in 2012. FALCÓN will be distributed internationally by ITV Studios Global Entertainment.

FALCÓN is part of Sky's commitment to increase its investment in original British content by 50% over the next three years. By 2014, Sky expects to invest £600 million a year in British programmes across its portfolio of channels.  This commitment follows the success of home-grown content such as entertainment hits GOT TO DANCE, AN IDIOT ABROAD and A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN, dramas such as STRIKE BACK, HIT AND MISS and MAD DOGS, comedies such as TROLLIED and THIS IS JINSY, and factual shows like ROSS KEMP EXTREME WORLD and the BAFTA-winning documentary FLYING MONSTERS 3D.   

Mammoth Screen was formed in 2007 by joint Managing Directors Michele Buck and Damien Timmer. The company is now one of the leading independent production companies in the UK supplying prime time quality programming to all of the major UK broadcasters. Current productions include Parade’s End written by Sir Tom Stoppard for BBC2 / HBO, Blandings a six part comedy series for BBC1 based on the stories of PG Wodehouse, Inspector Morse prequel Endeavour, and a second series of Monroe both for ITV1.  Mammoth has recently been ranked 67th in the Sunday Times Fast Track top 100 privately owned UK companies, the only independent television production company to make it into the league table.

For further information please contact

Luke Morrison - Publicity Manager, Sky Atlantic HD
T: 020 7032 1479
E: Luke.Morrison@bskyb.com

Megan MacLeod - Publicist, Sky Movies HD, Sky Atlantic HD
T:
E: megan.macleod@bskyb.com