London, 28^th November, 2013: Sky 1 HD  proudly announces today the return of the energetic customer favourite Got To Dance and a brand new fresh and innovative factual entertainment commission entitled 50 Ways To Test Your Mammy.

The fifth series Got To Dance, an 11 x 60 run, will be moving to later in the year as a major event for summer 2014. Davina McCall will return to host the dance contest which will culminate in a week of nightly supersized semi-finals. Each will be hosted in an arena in front of a six-thousand strong crowd, as the dancers perform to win their place in the thrilling final. Further details on the new series, including details of how to apply, will be revealed in the New Year.

Davina McCall, commented: “The joy of dance is completely infectious and I was bitten by that bug long ago. Each year I learn something new. Last year it was krumping - whatever next?! I couldn’t be happier to be returning to Got To Dance and I can’t wait to meet more dancers ready to take on the challenge. Let’s get to twerk…I mean work!”

Henrietta Conrad, Princess Productions added: “We are incredibly proud of Got to Dance and as a production team are consistently blown away by the talent that comes forth each year. The arena shows have always been particularly special occasions in previous series so we truly can’t wait to stage a whole week of them this time around.”

50 Ways to Test Your Mammy sees an Irish mammy and her thrill seeking son embark on a series of extraordinary adventures.  Filming is already underway in a shoot that will be filmed across locations including Africa, Asia and the USA for transmission in 2014. The 6 x 60 series from Burning Bright Productions, will see Nancy and Baz Ashmawy (How Low Can You Go) set sail on a journey designed by Baz to test his Mammy’s mettle.

Nancy is a 70 year old pensioner and for the last ten years has watched Baz gallivanting around the world throwing himself into all manner of extreme situations, all in the name of entertaining the nation. Until now Nancy has been a proud mother and an occasionally worried bystander but just recently she’s got the itch, an insatiable urge to grab life by the horns and try a few new experiences on for size.

Baz knows exactly where Nancy’s limits are and has planned trips across the globe that will gently take Nancy to those limits, slowly inching her past them each week, as far as she can go. From sky diving to alligator wrangling, Sky customers will be taken on a unique adventure, experiencing the endearing relationship between a brave Irish mammy and her daredevil only son.

Clive Tulloh, Burning Bright Productions added: “Burning Bright are excited to be working with Sky 1 and to be a part of their new raft of programming. Baz and Nancy make a hilarious double act, they are the mother and son relationship we wish we all had.”

Baz Ashmawy commented: "I think old age is probably the most unexpected of things to happen to a person, my mother is at a stage in her life where she yearns for a bit of adventure and thanks to Sky 1 I’m going give it to her. I've lived with tribes, wrestled alligators, jumped out of planes and off of buildings, everything I’ve done I have shared with my mammy. Now it's her time to try some new things but I’ll be holding her hand the whole way, if I’m not being forced to play travel scrabble and drink tea. To share a journey like this around the world with anyone is life changing but to share it with your seventy year old mammy… that’s the stuff of folklore. We can’t wait. Bring it on!"

Got To Dance is executive produced by Henrietta Conrad, Duncan Gray, Nicholas Steinberg and Katie Le Corre and series directed by Sam Campbell for Princess Productions.  Sky’s Head of Entertainment, Philip Edgar-Jones and Commissioning Editor, Barbara Lee, executive produce for Sky. 50 Ways to Test Your Mammy is executive produced by Clive Tulloh for Burning Bright Productions and Baz Ashmawy. The programme is Series Produced and directed by Barry Egan.

Adam MacDonald, Director of Sky 1 HD commented: “I’m delighted to be confirming these two new commissions for Sky 1 HD. Got To Dance is a firm favourite with our customers, delivering big-hearted entertainment that all the family can enjoy. This year we’re building on that success, as series five grows to become a major event piece that will see the contest build to grand scale live shows stripped across a week this summer. Sky 1 HD has an outstanding track record of delivering fresh, innovative and entertaining factual commissions to its customers and 50 Ways to Test Your Mammy is set to continue that tradition. It will be funny, scary, irreverent and moving, showing that the joy of family doesn’t stop when the kids leave home.”

 By 2014, Sky will invest £600 million a year in British programmes across its portfolio of channels.  This commitment includes home-grown content such as upcoming entertainment quiz DUCK QUACKS DON’T ECHO, dramas such as MOONFLEET, THE TUNNEL, DRACULA, A YOUNG DOCTOR’S NOTEBOOK, FLEMING and THE SMOKE, comedies such as STELLA, DOLL & EM,THE KUMARS and factual shows such as KARL PILKINGTON: THE MOANING OF LIFE, THE SOUTH BANK SHOW, THE FACE and ROSS KEMP EXTREME WORLD.

ENDS

Notes to editor

For further information please contact:

Susan Collins                                                                    

PR Manager, Sky 1                                                          

0207 032 4243 / 07736 026074                                     

Susan.collins@bskyb.com                                           

www.skypressoffice.co.uk

Follow us on twitter @sky1insider

Rachel Tate

Publicist – Sky 1 and Sky Living

0207 032 6481 / 07850 732 717

Rachel.tate@bskyb.com

Photography available from www.image.net or StillsDepartment@bskyb.com

 

Notes to Editors:

 

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

 

About Burning Bright Productions

Burning Bright Productions was established in November 2011 focusing on talent led programming. It was founded by Clive Tulloh and Peter Bennett-Jones with backing from BBC Worldwide.  Since starting, Burning Bright has made three series for Sky Atlantic; Adam Buxton's Bug and Hotel Secrets Series 1 & 2 as well as shows for BBC 1 and ITV.