***Production pack including cast interviews also available***

Make room for a whip-smart family comedy centred on those complicated creatures called PARENTS (6 x 30”)on Sky 1 HD this summer (Week 27, Saturday 30 June - Friday 6 July, 2012).

Flying the nest is a milestone moment, a melange of nerves and delight as you unfurl yourself from the parental wing to do the independent thing, to grow up and never look back. That’s the idea anyway. But what if unforeseen circumstances, a flip in fortune, or, more specifically, unbridled rage force you to return and shack up with mum and dad once again? That’s the ‘what if’ sparked by newcomer writers Lloyd Woolf and Joe Tucker in PARENTS, and brought to life by a stellar cast of British talent, including Sally Phillips (Miranda, Smack the Pony), Darren Strange (Phone Shop, The Armando Iannucci Shows), Susie Blake (Mrs Brown's Boys, Victoria Wood) and Academy Award® nominee Tom Conti (Friends, Reuben, Reuben).

Until recently, Jenny Pope (Phillips) was a high-flying executive living in a large house in leafy west London. That came to an abrupt halt when she lost her job. She says this was due to “structural changes” at the firm, but it might have had something to do with an altercation with a colleague that got a little, er, "punchy". Things went from bad to worse when her house was repossessed, and now she's had to move her husband, self-d entrepreneur Nick (Strange) and two teenage children, Sam (Christian Lees) and Becky (Jadie Rose Hobson), into her parents' - Len (Conti) and Alma (Blake) - house in Kettering. Purely on a temporary basis, of course. However, Jenny's determined to climb back up the ladder and get back to her old life, no matter what it takes.

Commenting on PARENTS, co-creator Lloyd Woolf said: "The challenges come from writing the episodes. They're like pop songs in that they look easy, but, in fact, being that simple is actually quite complicated. It's hard work, but, you know, that's what makes it rewarding - you feel like you've pulled off something tricky." Joe Tucker added: "We wanted to keep the tone light and playful, and we also wanted it to be grounded. We wanted the scenarios, however comic they were, to be as believable as possible and to stem from the characters. That was always the biggest challenge."

It's a challenge that their lead, Sally Phillips, thinks they've more than risen to. She said: "It's a joy of a role to perform and that is unusual. I don't write things that are fun to perform, which is ironic because, as a performer, you'd think I would. [Joe and Lloyd] have written stuff that you want to observe exactly but, at the same time, there's room to piss about [laughs]. There is lots of freedom, so there'll be 20 ways to perform something, again, unusual ... This time, the freedom was all elsewhere. They don't tell you what to do in the script, they've put you, the performer, in the situation and then you do whatever you want."

Lucy Lumsden, Sky's Head of Comedy, concurs: "I'm finding that the best ideas and the ways they're communicated and delivered tend to come from a pool of bright, young writers ... There is something about not being frightened of writing an unashamedly friendly and silly show, rather than feeling like you've got to write for your peer group, possibly limiting the breadth of the appeal." She continues: “

Sky is putting its money where its mouth is and backing the British industry, which is really healthy and important - long may it continue. Hopefully, if we choose our projects wisely, we're delivering shows that our customers feel are worth paying for and that makes their subscription feel valued. For me, it also gives talented comics and writers more opportunities to shine.”

PARENTS will also feature some familiar comedy faces in guest starring roles including Daisy Haggard (Psychoville, Episodes), John Thomson (Cold Feet, 24 Hour Party People), Imogen Stubbs (Sense and Sensibility) and Felicity Montagu (I'm Alan Partridge, Nighty Night).

PARENTS is the latest comedy commission for Sky 1 HD following 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 and MAD DOGS, comedies such as STARLINGS, STELLA and SPY, and factual shows such as ROSS KEMP EXTREME WORLD and the BAFTA-winning documentary FLYING MONSTERS 3D.

Sky 1 HD’s comedy continues to go from strength-to-strength. In December 2011, Sky 1 HD was nominated for five British Comedy Awards and won for Best TV Comedy Actor (Darren Boyd, Spy) and Best Female Comic (Victoria Wood, Victoria Wood’s Angina Monologues) and both Ruth Jones (Stella) and Darren Boyd (Spy) have received BAFTA nominations for their performances. Sky 1 HD’s fist comedy, TROLLIED, is the most-watched comedy launch in multi-channel history with a record breaking audience of 2.011m viewers tuning in for the first episode.

PARENTS is directed by Simon Delaney (Cold Feet, Lead Balloon) and will be exec produced by Ben Farrell for Objective Productions (Peep Show, Fresh Meat) and Lucy Lumsden for Sky.

PARENTS will launch on Sky 1 HD in Week 27 (Jun 30 - 6 July) and will be available on the move via Sky Go.

For more information contact:

Chris Aylott                                                                       

Head of PR, Sky 1 HD     

T: +44 (0)20 7032 2893, M: +44 (0)7730 637 688                                                                   

chris.aylott@bskyb.com

 New Link

www.skypressoffice.co.uk

Photography available from www.image.net or StillsDepartment@bskyb.com

Notes to Editors:

About Sky

Sky entertains and excites more than 10.4 million homes through the most comprehensive multichannel, multi-platform television service in the UK and Ireland. Sky continues to break new ground with its own portfolio of channels: Sky 1 combines its commitment to UK production with the best of the US; Sky Living pushes ahead with fresh and innovative entertainment formats; Sky Arts is the UK's only dedicated arts channel brand; Sky Atlantic is the home to HBO and other iconic drama and comedy, Sky Sports is still raising the bar in sports broadcasting; Sky News remains a pioneer in television news; and Sky Movies is leading the way in High Definition and on-demand.

Sky also works with dozens of other broadcasters on the satellite platform, as well as online and on mobile through the ground-breaking Sky Go service.  Sky has also led the UK into the age of high definition television, launched Europe's first 3DTV channel, Sky 3D, and offers customer even more flexibility and choice through Sky Anytime+, its internet-delivered video on demand service.   Since launching Sky Broadband and Sky Talk in 2006, the company has also been the UK's fastest-growing home communications provider.

Sky believes in making a wider contribution to the communities in which it operates, not least by increasing participation in, and access to, the arts, supporting grassroots sports, and taking positive action on the environment.

For further information please contact

Chris Aylott - Head of PR, Sky 1 HD
T: 020 7032 2893
E: chris.aylott@bskyb.com