Sky 1 today reaffirms its commitment to delivering customers top quality British drama by joining forces with Emmy and Golden Globe award-winning Carnival Films and legendary comic book writer Stan Lee on his first TV drama for the UK, Lucky Man. 

Commissioned by Sky 1 Director, Adam MacDonald, Sky’s Head of Drama, Anne Mensah and Commissioning Editor, Cameron Roach, the 10 x 60' series from the producers of Downton Abbey, Carnival Films, is based on an original idea by Stan Lee and is being made in collaboration with Lee’s multi-¬media entertainment company POW! Entertainment. It will debut on the channel in 2016.

Starring in the drama are James Nesbitt (The Hobbit Trilogy, The Missing), Eve Best (Nurse Jackie, The Honourable Woman),  Sienna Guillory (Fortitude, Luther, Love Actually), Amara Karan (The Darjeeling Limited, Kidnap and Ransom), Darren Boyd (Spy, Fortitude, Case Sensitive), Omid Djalili (Moonfleet, Pirates of the Caribbean), Jing Lusi (Holby City) and Kenneth Tsang (Die Another Day).

This latest commission adds to Sky’s ambitious slate of original drama this year including Birthday, written by Joe Penhall, The Five, created by number-¬-one international best-¬-selling author Harlan Coben, The  Last  Panthers, the crime drama written by Jack Thorne and starring Samantha Morton, Tahar Rahim and John Hurt; Critical, the new medical drama from Line of Duty writer Jed Mercurio; Enfield Haunting starring Timothy Spall, Matthew MacFadyen and Juliet Stevenson; Raymond Briggs’ much-¬loved classic Fungus the Bogeyman; and epic global drama Apocalypse Slough, starring Mathew Baynton. There are also returning hits including gothic horror Penny Dreadful and action series Strike Back. 

Lucky Man is the story of DI Harry Clayton (James Nesbitt), a cop from Central London’s notorious Murder Squad, who is given a charm that seems to confer upon the wearer the ability to control luck.

Harry is down on his luck; his wife (Eve Best) and child have left him due to his gambling habit, his boss thinks he’s in league with the devil and he has a huge debt to an infamous underworld crime boss who is threatening his life.

A chance meeting with a mysterious woman who gives him an ancient bracelet changes everything... It appears to give Harry control over luck itself, but at what cost? What is luck anyway, and is one man’s luck always another’s misfortune? DI Harry Clayton is about to find out…

Adam MacDonald, Director of Sky 1 commented: “Lucky Man is a visually striking crime thriller from the legend that is Stan Lee for Sky 1. The show is mysterious, thrilling, energetic and sure to appeal to our customers. I’m honoured that Sky 1 is working with Stan Lee on his first UK TV drama and I can’t wait for our customers to experience the gifts and misfortunes that luck can bring”.

Stan Lee, Chief Creative Officer of POW! Entertainment commented: “Luck has always been a fascinating subject to me, and I am excited to finally share that fascination with audiences around the world. With all the creative projects I have worked on, I sure am a lucky man myself and I am excited to be working with Sky 1 and Carnival Films on this latest project”.

Richard Fell, Executive Producer said: “Lucky Man is a different kind of superhero show – Stan has come up with an absolutely brilliant idea; something that we can all relate to. What if you could control luck? Would that be the greatest thing you could give someone, or their worst nightmare? It’s a twist which brings the whole superhero genre right back down to earth, which we hope will appeal to the Sky 1 audience.”

Richard Fell and Gareth Neame will Executive Produce for Carnival Films and Anne Mensah and Beverley Booker for Sky, with Stan Lee (Spider-¬-Man™, X-¬-Men™, The Fantastic Four™) and producing partner Gill Champion as Co-¬-Executive Producers, alongside writer and co-¬- creator Neil Biswas (The Take, Bradford Riots). Phil Temple is the development producer for Carnival Films.

The series will be distributed globally by NBCUniversal International Distribution.

Susan Collins

PR Manager, Sky 1

T: 020 7032 4243

susan.collins@bskyb.com 

Notes to editors: 

About Sky

Sky is Europe’s leading entertainment company with 20 million customers across five countries: Italy, Germany, Austria, the UK and Ireland. We offer the best and broadest range of content, deliver market-¬-leading customer service and use innovative new technology to give customers a better TV experience, whenever and wherever they choose.

Sky has annual revenues of over £11 billion and is Europe’s leading investor in television content with a combined programming budget of over £4.6 billion. The company employs 31,000 people and is listed on the London Stock Exchange (SKY).

For more information visit www.sky.com/corporate

About Carnival Films

Carnival Films is a division of NBC Universal International TV Production and is the UK’s largest drama specialist. The company is responsible for the global TV sensation Downton Abbey, winner of three Golden Globes and eleven Primetime Emmy awards, including Best Mini-¬-series. It is the most nominated non-¬-US show in the history of the Emmys with a total of 51 nominations and is now in 250 territories worldwide. Among numerous national and international awards, including two Screen Actors Guild Awards and three National Television Awards, the show has even garnered a Guinness World Record for highest critical ratings for a TV show. Downton Abbey is executive produced by Carnival’s Managing Director Gareth Neame, who sold the production company to NBCU in 2008.

Founded in 1978, Carnival has produced many hundreds of hours of popular drama both in the UK and US, including primetime series such as Poirot, Hotel Babylon, Whitechapel, Jeeves & Wooster, Rosemary & Thyme, As If, Dracula and The Philanthropist, as well as award-¬-winning mini-¬-series such as C4’s iconic Traffik, David Hare’s Worricker Trilogy (Page Eight, Turks & Caicos and Salting the Battlefield), The 7:39 by David Nicholls, William Boyd’s BAFTA award winning Best Serial Any Human Heart, The Old Curiosity Shop and Enid starring Helena Bonham-¬-Carter. Peter Morgan’s The Lost Honour of Christopher Jefferies broadcast on ITV at the end of 2014 to critical acclaim.

Carnival’s latest series The Last Kingdom is in production for BBC2 and BBC America, and the sixth season of Downton Abbey will go in to production in early 2015. Carnival co-¬-produced Royal Television Society award winning drama The Hollow Crown, a screen version of Shakespeare’s history plays (with Neal Street productions) and the sequel The War of the Roses is currently in production, starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Judi Dench.

Carnival has recently announced major new projects such as Freud and Neil Cross’s Bay of Plenty with Libertine Pictures.

Carnival was recognised as best production company at the 2011 Bulldog Awards and 2012 Broadcast Awards.

About POW! Entertainment

POW! Entertainment Inc. (QTCQB:POWN) is a multi-¬-media entertainment company founded by noted comic book writer Stan Lee together with award-¬-winning producer Gill Champion and the late intellectual property specialist Arthur Lieberman. POW!’s principals have extensive backgrounds in the creation and production of original intellectual properties, including some of the most successful entertainment franchises of all time. POW! is utilizing Stan Lee’s historical background by perpetuating his legacy while creating and developing all new live-¬-action films, television, digital games, merchandising, licensing and related ancillary markets, all of which contribute to global expansion. POW! partners with third parties and strategic alliances, including studios and networks, in the production and distribution of new POW! character franchises. For more information, visit http://www.powentertainment.com/