Sky Arts unveils brand new shows across Music, Literature, Craft and Visual Art

Sky Arts is today announcing five new Sky Originals which will bring the arts to everyone. Iconic women artists are at the heart of the channel’s growing slate, with new films on literary virtuoso Edna O’Brien, art activists The Guerrilla Girls, Turner Prize-winner Lubaina Himid, tour-de-force Maggi Hambling, 2-Tone legend Pauline Black and sister disruptors, The Brontës. Bill Bailey will also continue to fight for the survival of heritage crafts with a third series of Bill Bailey’s Master Crafters: The Next Generation, coming this autumn. 

Phil Edgar-Jones, Executive Director of Original Unscripted: commented: "Arts TV is alive and kicking. We have a brilliant range of programmes coming down the line, whether that’s celebrating the greats in various fields from Edna O’Brien via Maggi Hambling to Pauline Black and the The Brontës. We are proud to be flying the flag for the best in British and Irish Arts.”

Coming up on Sky Arts:

Blue Road: The Edna O’Brien Story TX: 2025 

A portrait of one of the world’s most charismatic writers, Irish author Edna O’Brien, who died last month aged 93. In 1960, a young Edna O’Brien wrote a sexually frank debut novel, The Country Girls, and became a literary sensation. This new film explores Edna’s identity as one of her generation’s most controversial women, as she undertakes her final camera interview and describes what it is to know there is little time left. Never-before-seen excerpts from her personal journals are read aloud by Oscar-nominated actress Jessie Buckley, as we bear witness to the denigration she endured as an Irish woman and artist. Additional perspectives are offered from Gabriel Byrne, Walter Mosley and an array of renowned writers. Blue Road is as candid, dark, and enchanting as O’Brien’s novels. In her final days, she shows us what it is to be an artist, and to refuse categorisation.

My Week With…TX: 2025 

Uncover the day-to-day lives of the world’s most extraordinary women artists in My Week With…  In this brand new series, Sky Arts sends art expert Kate Bryan to spend a week with some of the most iconic and disruptive women artists. With up to half the footage captured by Kate on an iPhone, these films are intimate, candid, and refreshingly real. The series comprises:

My Week With…The Guerrilla Girls 

Kate Bryan spends an extraordinary week monkeying about with the bad girls of art activism, The Guerrilla Girls, who haven’t given a film crew full access to their lives and works in over 30 years. Keeping their identities secret throughout the film, Kate joins the masked crusaders, iPhone in hand, filming as they continue to disrupt the status quo of the “billionaire boys club” of the art world, campaigning for equality of opportunity and representation in the lead-up to their major installation at the Beyond the Streets gallery in Los Angeles.

My Week With…Lubaina Himid 

This film marks the first time anyone has had full access to Himid’s life and working processes, and when the crew leaves, Kate is left with her iPhone to capture candid moments and conversations. Join her as she gets under the skin of one of Britain’s first black female disruptors, discovering Lubaina’s obsession with reclaimed wood and her love for Preston - the industrial northern city she calls home. Himid works non-stop, and Kate hangs out with her from dawn till dusk in her studio and her home.

My Week With…Maggi Hambling 

Kate spends long days with Maggi at home and in her studio, where the artist rises daily at 5am, and sets to work despite her recent near-fatal heart attack. In quiet moments on the iPhone they discuss everything from her creative processes and her muses to speeding tickets, cinnamon buns and being a reluctant queer icon, this one-off film draws an intimate portrait of an artist and iconic tour de force , known as much for her acerbic wit as her artistic genius.

Pauline Black: A 2-Tone Story (1x120) TX: November 2024 

Pauline Black is the living embodiment of the 2-Tone music movement and a woman who has made her mark on society. She helped shift British society towards diversity with a whole new ethos of anti-racism, sexism and gender politics that we still strive towards today. Her band, The Selecter, had a unique sound and energy defined by Pauline's distinctive voice and performance. They were a reflection of working-class life in Thatcher's England, and their music was social reportage. In this new film, featuring unseen archive from the era, we see how Pauline’s life story imitates her art, music and informs her activism as she discusses her experience of adoption, abuse, persona, gender and perseverance. Contributors include Arthur ‘Gaps’ Hendrickson, Don Letts, Skin, Damon Albarn, Rhoda Dakar, Lynval Golding (The Specials), Mykiell Riley (Steel Pulse), Sonia Boyce and Jools Holland.

Anita Rani – The Brontës: Sisters of Disruption (w/t) TX: 2025 

Anita Rani presents this exploration of the Bronte sisters and their enduring influence, tracking the impact Anne, Charlotte and Emily have had on millions of readers across the centuries. Partly autobiographical, this new programme traces Anita’s relationship with the Brontes as she heads back to her hometown of Bradford, recalling her first encounter with them at school and her experience of growing up with the stunning landscape of Haworth and the moors on her doorstep. Anita also meets fellow Bronte fans and literary experts to discuss how and why these sisters became ground-breaking ‘literary disruptors’ whose work still feels relevant and influential today.

Bill Bailey’s Master Crafters: The Next Generation 

TX: November 2024 

Bill Bailey is back for another series celebrating traditional crafts. This third series of Master Crafters will delve into four more heritage crafts which are in danger of being lost if the next generation do not take them up; Blacksmithing, Letter Press Printing, Mosaics and stone carving. Bill joins twelve Junior Crafters, each of whom are starting their own heritage craft journey in their chosen fields, as they are given the opportunity of a lifetime to expand on their skills with bespoke masterclasses. Bill will also get crafty himself as he visits a wealth of Britain's cultural heritage sites to find out why it is so important that we keep these crafts alive. 

All Sky Arts shows are available on Freeview and are commissioned by Phil Edgar-Jones, Executive Director of Original Unscripted, for Cecile Frot-Coutaz, Chief Content Officer for Sky.

Notes to Editors 

For more information, please contact: Lucy.Butterfield@sky.uk

Production credits:

Blue Road: The Edna O’Brien Story (1x100) TX: 2025 

Blue Road: The Edna O’Brien Story, is produced by SOS Productions Limited and Tara Films, directed by Sinéad O’Shea. The Executive Producer for Sky is Jack Oliver.

My Week With… (3x60) TX: 2025 

My Week With…is produced by Factory Films. The Executive Producers are Lisa Fairbank and Julie Heathcote. The Commissioning Editor for Sky is Benedetta Pinelli.

Anita Rani – The Brontës: Sisters of Disruption (w/t) (1x60) 

TX: 2025 

Anita Rani – The Brontes & Me: Sisters of Disruption is produced and directed for Wise Owl Films by Dhivya Kate Chetty with Mark Robinson as Executive Producer. The Commissioning Editor for Sky is Barbara Lee.

Pauline Black: A 2-Tone Story (1x120) TX: November 2024 

Pauline Black: A 2-Tone Story is produced by Tigerlily Two Productions and supported by Screen Scotland. Jane Mingay serves as Director and Producer; Nikki Parrott serves as Producer. The Executive producer for Screen Scotland is Mark Thomas. The Executive Producer for Sky is Jack Oliver.

Bill Bailey’s Master Crafters: The Next Generation (4x60) 

TX: November 2024 

Bill Bailey’s Master Crafters: The Next Generation is produced by Love Monday TV. The Commissioning Editor for Sky is Barbara Lee.