BARRY HUMPHRIES AND SALLY PHILLIPS TO GUEST STAR

Sky 1 HD today (26^th March 2013) announces the brand new cast additions on upcoming comedy CHICKENS. Written by and starring Simon Bird, Jonny Sweet and Joe Thomas, CHICKENS is a First World War sitcom about three young men left behind in a world of women as the Nation’s heroes are fighting the good fight on foreign soil.

Barry Humphries, the creator of legendary comic characters Dame Edna Everage and Sir Les Patterson, will make a return to British television in a recurring guest role as Mr Armstrong, the headmaster at the local school. Mr Armstrong thinks George (Thomas), Cecil (Bird) and Bert (Sweet) are beneath contempt but, with no other men to talk to, he takes great joy in letting them know just how pathetic he thinks they are.

Barry Humphries says, “This is a wonderful opportunity for three of the funniest and most talented men in the Northern hemisphere to work with me.I am very proud of my young supporting cast, whose names I cannot remember at the moment…”

In addition, Sally Phillips (Miranda) will guest star as Miss Trimble, the village outcast who George invites for dinner much to the disgust of Cecil and Bert.

Meanwhile, George struggles to keep his engagement to Winky (Sarah Daykin,Dead Boss) alive as she tries to deal with the embarrassment of dating someone who should be doing his duty, and Bert’s brief encounter with Cecil’s sister, Agnes (Emerald Fennell,Anna Karenina), has left him wanting more, while she treats him with total disdain.

Also amongst Agnes’ gang are Gracie (Louise Ford, Misfits), Agnes’ best friend, Dot (Amy Dawson, Game of Thrones), the barmaid at The Cock and Bull, Hesta (Vicki Pepperdine, Getting On) the matriarch of the village and Gladys (Eileen Davies, Sightseers), a foul-mouthed OAP who lives in the woods.

As the entire village continues to scorn George, Cecil and Bert, including young mother Nellie (Emma Fryer, Phone Shop), we see whether they can gradually claw themselves back into the good books and be accepted back into society.

Simon Bird, Jonny Sweet and Joe Thomas commented: “We’re incredibly excited to be making Chickens for Sky 1 HD.  It’s a privilege to work alongside such a brilliantly funny cast and hugely talented crew.”

Sky 1 HD’s CHICKENS is part of Sky’s commitment to increase its investment in original British content by 50% by 2014 when 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 and A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN, dramas such as STRIKE BACK and MAD DOGS, comedies such as TROLLIED, SPY and STELLA and factual shows such as AN IDIOT ABROAD and the BAFTA-winning documentary FLYING MONSTERS 3D.   

The 6x30’ series was commissioned by Sky’s Head of Comedy, Lucy Lumsden,and will be produced by Big Talk Productions. The executive producers are Kenton Allen and Caroline Leddy for Big Talk Productions and Lucy Lumsden for Sky. The director is Ben Palmer (The Inbetweeners) and the producer is John Rushton (The Royle Family, Hunderby). Filming began earlier this month and will be shot in studio and on location in Essex.

CHICKENS will air on Sky 1 HD this autumn.

Notes to editor

For further information please contact:

Sarah Aspinall - Senior Publicist, Sky 1 HD, Sky Atlantic HD
T: +44(0)20 7032 1488
E: Sarah.Aspinall@bskyb.com

Charlotte Jordan – Publicity Assistant, Sky 1 HD, Sky Atlantic HD and Sky Living HD
T: +44 (0)2070321496
E: charlotte.jordan@bskyb.com

Notes to editor:

About Barry Humphries

Best known for his on stage and television alter egos, Dame Edna Everage and Sir Les Patterson, Barry Humphries is an Australian comedian, satirist, artist and author. He was born John Barry Humphries on 17^th February 1934.

Humphries’ film credits include The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and Finding Nemo. He is a star of the West End, having appeared in Oliver!, Maggie May and many stage and radio productions by Spike Milligan. Humphries received an Olivier Award in 1979 for ‘A Night with Dame Edna’. He is also an award-winning writer and accomplished landscape painter.

For his delivery of dadaist and absurdist humour to millions, biographer Anne Pender described Humphries in 2010 as not only "the most significant theatrical figure of our time … [but] the most significant comedian to emerge since Charlie Chaplin".

About Sky

Sky is the UK and Ireland’s leading home entertainment and communications company. Around 40% of all homes have a direct relationship with Sky through its range of TV, broadband and home telephony services.
 
Sky is the UK’s biggest investor in television content, investing more than £2.3 billion a year in channels such as Sky 1, Sky Atlantic, Sky Living, Sky Arts, Sky Sports, Sky Movies and Sky News.   Around two-thirds of Sky’s content spend is invested in the UK and Sky is the fastest-growing source of investment in original British programmes. More than 30 million people watch Sky content each week.
 
Alongside its commitment to offering customers a greater choice of high-quality content, Sky is a leading innovator. Customers enjoy total control and flexibility over their favourite TV through Sky+, watch TV on the move through Sky Go, and enjoy the best quality TV experience at home through High Definition and 3D.  
 
Since launching Sky 3D in October 2010 Sky has broken new ground across a range of genres, including natural history, live music, the arts, spots and movies. Highlights have included previous David Attenborough 3D projects Flying Monsters 3D, The Bachelor King 3D, Kingdom of Plants 3D as well as live 3D broadcasts of a number of musical and dance performances including the Got To Dance Live Final and Kylie Minogue Live From The O2, the 3D TV world premieres of Avatar, Alice in Wonderland and the Toy Story Trilogy as well as more than 150 live sports broadcast spanning a range of domestic and international sports.

Sky distributes its content broadly over several platforms, including satellite, cable, IPTV, mobile and WiFi. NOW TV, Sky’s second consumer brand, builds on the company’s leadership in internet TV. Sky is also the UK's fastest-growing home communications company and favourite ‘triple-play’ provider of TV, broadband and home phone.
 
Sky believes in making a wider contribution to the communities in which it operates by taking positive action on the environment, supporting grassroots sports and increasing access to, and participation in, the arts. Sky employs 23,000 people, has annual revenues of £6.8 billion and is estimated to support a £5.4 billion contribution to UK GDP. Sky is listed on the London Stock Exchange (BSY). www.sky.com/corporate.

About Big Talk Productions

Big Talk Productions is one of the UK's leading film and television production companies. It has a fantastic slate of original TV comedy and drama, and a track record in developing talent such as Simon Pegg, Nick Frost and Edgar Wright whose cult television series Spaced paved the way for Big Talk’s hit films Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz and Paul.

In recent years Big Talk has gone from strength to strength with a string of award winning productions from BAFTA-award winning Rev (BBC2), to RTS Best Comedy Performance winning Him & Her (BBC3). Meanwhile Friday Night Dinner (Channel 4), and Threesome (Comedy Central), have enjoyed two highly successful series, and Chickens (Sky 1), written by and starring Simon Bird, Joe Thomas & Jonny Sweet and The Job Lot (ITV1) starring Russell Tovey and Sarah Hadland, both have upcoming series.

Big Talk made its move into drama programming in 2012 with The Town (ITV1), written by Laurence Olivier-winning playwright Mike Bartlett, starring Andrew Scott and Martin Clunes, and smash-hit miniseries A Young Doctor’s Notebook (Sky Arts), which starred Jon Hamm and Daniel Radcliffe. Upcoming dramas include Youngers (E4), about a group of 16 year-old kids in East London, and Our Men (BBC2) starring long-term collaborators Mitchell and Webb.

In film, Big Talk has made 21st century classics Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz. Also directed by Edgar Wright, Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World and Paul, while Joe Cornish’s directorial debut Attack the Block was released to fantastic reviews and awards. Sightseers, directed by Ben Wheatley, had its world premiere at Cannes and is now showing across the UK. Coming next are In Fear, Jeremy Lovering’s psychological thriller and Cuban Fury, a Salsa dancing rom-com starring Nick Frost, Rashida Jones, Chris O'Dowd and Ian McShane. The World’s End, the third collaboration between director Edgar Wright, starring Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, finished shooting December 2012 for release in 2013.