Sky Atlantic presents a host of notable names in The British

London (18 July 2012): SKY ATLANTIC today announces the names of contributors to its landmark factual series THE BRITISH, which will premiere exclusively to Sky customers on SKY ATLANTIC HD from September. Contributors from Dame Helen Mirren to Jeremy Irons and Lord Robert Winston to Michael Portillo will offer their views on exactly how our history has shaped the nation we are today.

THE BRITISH is a big, ambitious and unmissable new series which tells the history of Britain and Ireland from the Roman invasion to the birth of TV and the Coronation of Elizabeth II in 1953, using compelling drama and spectacular CGI.   Spanning two thousand years in seven hours, the series will bring vividly to life real and often surprising stories of the unsung heroes as well as the icons of history.

Some of the UK’s most recognizable names from the worlds of entertainment, politics and science – along with a host of British history experts – offer unique insights on how thousands of years of British history have shaped the people and nation we are today. A full list of the contributors to the series follows alphabetically.

Contributors

Benedict Allen

Kate Allen

Russell Brand

Lily Cole

Dan Cruickshank

Tracey Emin

Micky Flanagan

Ken Follett

Diarmuid Gavin

Anthony Horowitz

Jeremy Irons

Jessie J

Colin Jackson

General Sir Mike Jackson

Sir Ben Kingsley

Kwame Kwei Amah

Frank Lampard

Lennox Lewis

Dame Helen Mirren

Caitlin Moran

Bruce Oldfield

Neil Oliver

Michael Portillo

Lord Puttnam

Richard Reed

Tim Roth

Dougray Scott

Meera Syal

Gareth Thomas

Lord Robert Winston

Sir Terry Wogan

Historians & historical experts

Prof. Jeremy Black (Univ. Exeter)

Prof. David Carpenter (Kings College, London)

Mark Corby

Saul David (Univ. Buckingham)

Neil Faulkner (Editor of Military Times)

Juliet Gardiner (Author)

Gretchen Gerzina (Brunel Univ.)

Lucy Moore

Helen Rappaport (Author)

Adrian Tinniswood (Author)

Dr. Anna Whitelock (Royal Holloway)

Sky also recently announced an ambitious educational initiative to support the series. Aiming to give pupils an enthralling insight into 2,000 years of the history of Great Britain, the initiative will target pupils from ages 7 – 14 with an educational plan tailored to the series.

As part of this campaign, Sky will produce free, flexible teaching and learning resources for ages 7-11 and 11-14, which will be specifically tailored towards each episode of the seven-part series.

Curriculum materials including images, teaching resources and lesson plans as well as video clips designed to equip every student with key facts and information regarding the history of Great Britain will be available to download from the Sky Skills website free of charge to every school that registers. In addition, a DVD box set of the complete series will be available to the first 5,000 schools that complete the registration and feedback process. Schools nationwide will be encouraged to begin a dialogue in classrooms about the history of this nation, in detail and on a broad scale.

Teachers and schools are now able to register interest in these materials by visiting http://corporate.sky.com/the_bigger_picture to leave their details.

THE BRITISH 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.  Sky Atlantic HD recently announced a major commitment to Factual programming with a significant investment in feature-length documentary films.

THE BRITISH is a Nutopia production for SKY ATLANTIC HD. Celia Taylor is the Executive Producer for Sky. Jane Root, Ben Goold and Peter Lovering are Executive Producers for Nutopia and Sam Starbuck and Michael Waterhouse are Series Producers.

ENDS

For further information please contact

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

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

Notes to editor

About Sky Skills

Seeing the bigger picture is part and parcel of the way we do business at Sky. That's why we're committed to building a business for the long term and playing our part in the communities where we live and work.

We bring homes to life by delivering great entertainment, making technology simple and connecting people to each other and the world. And we do this by working closely together, solving problems, thinking on our feet and doing the right thing.

We've seen how important these skills are. Now it's time to help young people learn them.

 Sky Skills inspires young people to be the best they can be by raising aspirations and building life skills.

To find out more about Sky Skills, please visit http://corporate.sky.com/the_bigger_picture