Sky Living HD announces a strong line-up of original content for 2013

24 January, 2013 (London) Sky today announces a series of new commissions for Sky Living, led by channel Director Antonia Hurford-Jones. With an emphasis on delivering a slate of programming to reflect the diverse, ever-evolving tastes of its customers, a range of drama, factual, entertainment and comedy series are announced which will see talent including actresses Emily Mortimer and Katherine Kelly  as well as multi-award winning British writer Simon Blackwell join the channel.

The new commissions will sit alongside the existing US acquisitions and play a key part in Sky’s drive to bring more high-quality, exclusive programmes to customers. It is supported by Sky’s commitment to invest £600 million a year in home-grown programming by 2014, an increase of 50% over three years.

Delivering a broad range of shows featuring a wealth of talent, both on and off screen, the new commissions include:

“Doll & Em” (6 x 30) is an original and exclusive comedy series created by and starring Emily Mortimer and her real-life best friend, Dolly Wells. The series is an intimate, funny portrait of female friendship, set against the backdrop of LA and will also feature a number of surprise high profile celebrity cameos.  

“Trying Again” (8 x 30) is an original comedy series written and co-created by Emmy© award-nominated and Oscar© nominated writer Simon Blackwell(Veep, The Thick of It, In the Loop, Peep Show) and Chris Addison (The Thick Of it, In The Loop, Mock The Week). A sitcom about what happens after the affair; it will go into production this summer while casting announcements are due imminently.

“Mount Pleasant” (8 x 60) will return for a third run following the success of the second series and recent Christmas special. The upcoming series written by Sarah Hooper(Shameless) sees the return of Sally Lindsay and Daniel Ryan as Sky delivers more home-grown quality comedy-drama.

“Reckless” (5 x 60) is a series of original scripted drama specials written by some of Britain’s most renowned and critically-acclaimed screenwriters including BAFTA nominated Sally Wainwright, Gwyneth Hughes and Annie Griffin. Confirmed today are Katherine Kelly (Mr Selfridge, Coronation Street) and Anne Reid (Last Tango in Halifax, Coronation Street, Dinnerladies) who will star in Sally Wainwright’s “The Last Witch”; anepic and eerie supernatural tale of revenge.

Life Stages is Sky Living’s first foray into long form programming with three intimate new series’ confirmed for the strand. “Becoming Mum and Dad” (6 x 60), “Newlyweds” (8 x 60), and “She’s Having a Baby” (8 x 60), will chart the varying stages throughout our lives.

Antonia Hurford-Jones, Director of Sky Living, commented: “Today marks an exciting time for Sky Living as we reveal an incredibly strong line-up of talent, who I am thrilled to be welcoming to the channel. Each of our new commissions has great storytelling, great characters and engaging relationships at their heart. These are key themes which will run throughout our programming. There’s also big terrestrial talent arriving on the channel, both on and off screen.

At Sky we’re committed to bringing our customers the very best content and today’s announcements do just that. We’re going bigger, broader and better.”

Notes to editor

Further information:

Katharine Ware                                                                              
Head of PR, Sky Living HD                                                         
katharine.ware@bskyb.com      

www.skypressoffice.com

 

Notes to Editors:

Comedy:

Lucy Lumsden, Head of Comedy, Sky

 

“Doll & Em” (6 x 30) is an original comedy series created by and starring Emily Mortimer (The Newsroom, Shutter Island, Match Point) and her real-life best friend, Dolly Wells (Some Girls, Starlings, and Bridget Jones’ Diary).  The series will be produced by Alessandro Nivola (star of Coco Before Chanel, Ginger and Rosa and upcoming Devil’s Knot) and executive produced by the BAFTA award-winning producer, Andrew Eaton (The Trip, 24 Party People), who has a wealth of experience in this field from producing Michael Winterbottom’s films.

An intimate, funny portrait of female friendship set against the backdrop of LA, “Doll & Em” is a semi-improvised comedy looking at what happens when your best friend becomes a Hollywood star and you find yourself employed as their personal assistant. The series features Em (Mortimer) - a successful actress starring in a Hollywood movie - who invites Doll (Wells) to LA to become her personal assistant after breaking up with her boyfriend, as a way for Doll to find the financial and emotional independence she is in need of.  But soon after arriving, the line between life and work becomes increasingly blurred, until each one is no longer sure of the other’s motivation.

 

King Bee Productions : directed and co-written by Azazel Jacobs (Momma's Man, Terri). Executive produced by Lucy Lumsden, Head of Comedy, Sky.

CONTACT: Jakki.Lewis@bskyb.com & Elena.Kemp@bskyb.com

“Trying Again” (8 x 30) is an original comedy series written and co-created by multi-award winning British writer Simon Blackwell (Veep, The Thick of It, In the Loop, Peep Show) and Chris Addison (The Thick Of it, In The Loop, Mock The Week).  Collaborating with Simon and Chris is co-writer Tony Roche (The Thick of It, Fresh Meat, Veep, In The Loop), and Jesse Armstrong (The Thick of It, Veep, Peep Show, Fresh Meat), who will script-edit.

“Trying Again” is a sitcom about what happens after the affair.  Set in The Lake District, Matt and Meg are meant to be together, they’re pretty sure of that.  And they really are trying to put her indiscretion with her boss behind them.  But it’s not easy when you live in a small town where everyone knows everyone’s business and you have bills to pay. Highlighting friendships and love and all the problems those things bring, “Trying Again” focuses on a real relationship between real people who make mistakes but live in the hope that love will conquer all.

The series will go into production this summer and a casting announcement will follow imminently.  

Avalon Television: executive-produced by Rob Aslett, Jon Thoday and Richard Allen-Turner for Avalon Television. Saskia Schuster, Commissioning Editor, Comedy will exec-produce for Sky.

CONTACT: Jakki.Lewis@bskyb.com & Rowan.Adams@bskyb.com

“Mount Pleasant” (8 x 60) will return for a third run following the success of the second series and recent Christmas special. The upcoming series written and created by Sarah Hooper welcomes the return of the popular cast led by Sally Lindsay in the role of Lisa and Daniel Ryan in the role of Dan.

Tiger Aspect: executive-produced by Sophie Clarke-Jervoise for Tiger Aspect and Jon Mountague, Commissioning Editor, Comedy for Sky.

CONTACT: Rachel.Tate@bskyb.com

Drama:

Anne Mensah, Head of Drama, Sky

“Reckless” (5 x 60) is a series of original scripted drama films written by some of Britain’s most renowned and critically-acclaimed female screenwriters including BAFTA-nominated Sally Wainwright (Scott and Bailey, At Home With The Braithwaites, Last Tango in Halifax), Gwyneth Hughes (Five Days, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Miss Austen Regrets) and Annie Griffin (Festival, The Book Group, Fresh Meat). “Reckless”is a celebration of bold and memorable modern female characters at the heart of the channel’s 2013 programming schedule.

Written by BAFTA-nominated Sally Wainwright (Scott and Bailey, At Home With The Braithwaites, Last Tango in Halifax), confirmed today (23rd January) is British actress Katherine Kelly (Mr Selfridge, Coronation Street) who takes the lead role, alongside BAFTA-nominated actress Anne Reid (Last Tango in Halifax, Coronation Street, Dinnerladies) in “The Last Witch”, an epic and eerie supernatural tale of revenge.

Alice Lister is 519 years old and doomed to walk the earth forever after being cursed some 500 years ago by a sister she murdered. She can’t die, she doesn’t age, and if a man ever falls in love with her she’ll end up killing him – however hard she tries not to. Now living in York, life is going to get a whole lot tougher for Alice when the spirit of her dead sister is accidentally disturbed…

The Reckless Season comprises:

The Last Witch: Red Productions, executive produced by Nicola Schindler and written by Sally Wainwright.

Talking To The Dead (2 x 60): co-produced by Bonafide Films and Warp Films, executive-produced by Robin Gutch and Margery Bone.

Rubenesque – written and directed by Annie Griffin – co-produced by Kudos Film & Television Ltd / Pirate Productions. Executive-produced by Jemma Rodgers and Jane Featherstone

Two further films to complete the season will be announced in due course.

CONTACT: Jakki.Lewis@bskyb.com

 

Factual and Features:

Commissioned by Celia Taylor, Head of Factual and Features, Sky

Life Stages is Sky Living’s first foray into long form programming with three intimate new commissions confirmed for the strand. “Becoming Mum and Dad” (6 x 60), from Spungold Television, will follow the lives of first time parents. With unprecedented access to the first six months of the new parents’ lives, cameras will capture how life changes when the baby arrives. “Newlyweds” (8 x 60), from production house Monkey, will chart the stories of couples from their wedding day and throughout their first year as husband and wife. Sky customers can watch first hand as our couples walk down the aisle into married life and the ups and downs that follow such as moving in together, attempting to get pregnant, dealing with parental issues, stresses from work and money problems. “She’s Having a Baby” (8 x 60), from Nutopia, brings Sky Living all the ups and downs of pregnancy and childbirth. Each episode will feature two mums to be, charting their bumpy ride over the months leading up to the birth, giving an entertaining and moving insight into the contrasting hopes and dreams of both women and their partners.

CONTACT: Rachel.Tate@bskyb.com

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.  

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