The new Sky Arts arrives this summer with over 1000 hours of dedicated arts programming on new on demand service; an EPG move and Lenny Henry, Kim Cattrall and Edith Bowman

As the UK’s only dedicated channel for the arts, Sky Arts will now match that proposition on demand, with the launch of a comprehensive Sky Arts on demand service this June. Reflecting  the way customers consume content, and the broad range of genres in the arts, Sky Arts On Demand will offer customers over 1000 hours of dedicated arts programming, as well as introducing exclusive new on demand only content, commissioned or acquired especially for the service. Sky Arts new on demand service underlines Sky’s long term commitment to the arts, and represents a step change in the channel’s ambition - alongside a move up the electronic programme guide (EPG), where it will consolidate into a single ‘super channel,’ and an overall programming budget increase of 10%.

The investment in on demand reflects Sky’s position as the biggest connected TV platform, with over 7 million connected customers. Sky Arts On Demand will be one of the richest archives of arts programming in the UK and Ireland, and will be accessed via a Sky Arts tab, the first time for a Sky channel.  Sky Arts On Demand will allow customers to navigate their way through a curated selection of genres, themes and areas of interest.

Sky Arts will also acquire and commission content exclusively for the on demand service . In a unique new feature, Galleries On Demand, will partner with galleries to offer up a masterpiece painting a day to download to act as a smart TV backdrop in customer homes. From the masters to modern works, this television first offers something different to arts lovers in the UK and Ireland.

Alongside the changes to Sky Arts service, the channel will unveil its most ambitious programming line-up to date, featuring a brand new ‘sex season’ with Edith Bowman, The BalletBoyz (pictured) and The Chapman Brothers; new dramas from Stephen Mangan, Idris Elba and Rhys Ifans; comedy with Kim Cattrall, Frank Skinner and Vic Reeves; and a new strand, Hot Tickets which will offer customers front row seats to the nation’s best arts performances, including the best in ballet, theatre and classical concerts, as well as the quest to find the UK and Ireland’s best guitarist in Guitar Star.

The move signals the further evolution of Sky Arts following almost a decade of investment in the arts in UK and Ireland both on and off-screen as the only dedicated arts channels in the UK and as one of the longest standing corporate supporters of the arts. It follows Sky Arts’ most recent initiative Sky Arts Amplify, which encourages arts organisations and production companies to pitch collaboratively for up to £1million annually on new TV ideas, as part of a broader investment in the UK and Ireland’s creative industries.  Sky Arts currently reaches over 5 million customers monthly.

Philip Edgar-Jones, Director, Sky Arts commented: "At Sky we believe the arts are for everyone.  We know that a lot of our content appeals to genre enthusiasts, and the feedback from our customers tells us that they want to find the stuff they love in one place. With that in mind, we have looked at our offering to make sure customers can more easily find the content they are passionate about. With our new on demand service alongside what we think is the strongest line-up of programmes yet, we think the new look Sky Arts will genuinely offer something for everyone.”

Sky Arts’ dedicated on demand area, and the move to channel 121 will take place on 9th June 2015.

SEX SEASON
Sky Arts’ sex season will tempt customers with a collection of programmes which examine the subject through the prism of art, literature and culture. The BalletBoyz: Kama Sutra is a performance piece from The BalletBoyz which offers a modern take on the ancient Indian Hindu text. One of the world’s most inventive dance companies, The BalletBoyz will feature in this one-off documentary as they get to grips with the new piece, led by award-winning choreographer Javier De Frutos, and ultimately perform the dance for viewers at home. Edith Bowman will uncover the best Songs To Have Sex To in a documentary which takes viewers on a journey into art, science and popular culture to answer this little-asked question. Broadchurch actor Lucy Cohu becomes prolific journal-keeper and erotic writer, Anais Nin, for Erotic Adventures of Anais Nin which focuses on her time in 1930s hedonistic Paris and details her affairs with Henry Miller and his wife, amongst others. The Art of The Joy of Sex will celebrate the 1970s tome from which it takes its name with a new artwork inspired by the book, and its cultural impact, from renowned artist Julie Verhoeven.

MUSIC AND DOCUMENTARIES
In the documentaries and performance space, Lenny Henry will appear in a three-part series for Sky Arts, where he talks to Van Morrisson, Tinie Tempah and Jools Holland on a quest to discover why the UK has never produced a single black blues singer of international fame, to the backdrop of his own journey to record his first blues music album. Lenny Henry’s Got The Blues will culminate in a live performance in London where Lenny will be joined on stage by talented friends including Lulu, Mica Paris and Laura Mvula.  Arts grandee Melvyn Bragg returns with a sixth South Bank Sky Arts Awards – recognising the best talent across theatre, film, pop music, comedy and more – along with a new series of The South Bank Show in June. The fourth series features in-depth interviews with novelist Margaret Drabble, director Paul Greengrass and Game of Thrones author George RR Martin amongst the star-studded line-up.

Sky Arts introduces Hot Ticket Mondays in July, where customers are offered a front row seat at the nation’s best arts events in their own living room on the first Monday of the month. Delivering access to a range of sought-after live performances, Hot Tickets will bring customers closer to all the arts world action in 2015.

Bringing customers closer to some of the UK’s biggest music events, Sky Arts returns to Latitude in 2015, airing highlights from across the weekend from the two main stages where Noel Gallagher, Portishead and Alt J will perform, plus the best bits from across the event. The channel also features highlights from across the festival season, journeying to the Isle of Wight festival, the Cambridge Folk Festival and rock/metal/punk extravaganza, Download to showcase the broadest range of live music on television today.

COMEDY
Following on from sex, seasons will enjoy a regular outing on the channel with a Physical Comedy strand airing in the autumn. Kim Cattrall returns to the channel, this time trying her hand at physical comedy for the first time in Ruby Robinson, which combines mime, acrobatics and jaw-dropping feats of corporeal movement to tell an unusual, comic morality tale. Some of the UK’s best-loved comics join forces with rising stars to deliver a further three comedies in the season with Kevin Eldon, Jim Moir (aka Vic Reeves), Johnny Vegas, Frank Skinner, Seann Walsh, Sam Simmons, Jocelyn Jee Esien, Marek Larwood, Mike Wozniak and Foster’s Edinburgh Comedy Award winners John Kearns and Phil Burgers (aka Dr Brown) and others all stepping up to celebrate this art form with gleeful abandon.

DRAMA
This summer packs a punch in drama too, when Idris Elba tells the story of his tumultuous childhood in King for a Term, an original drama written and directed by Elba, based on his upbringing in Hackney, east London. In addition, artist Jake Chapman’s The Marriage of Reason and Squalor (WT) is a highly original twisted romance taking its cue from romance novels of time gone by starring Rhys Ifans and Sophie Kennedy Clark. Stephen Mangan reprises his celebrated role as a pregnant man awaiting the birth of his child, alongside Anna Maxwell-Martin as his wife and Louise Brealey as the registrar, in the hilarious and touching Birthday, adapted for television for Joe Penhall, who wrote the original Royal Court Play, and directed by Roger Michell.

For further information, please contact:
Sky
Manisha Ferdinand
Head of PR, Sky Arts
manisha.ferdinand@bskyb.com    
020 7032 2842
 
For images, please go to Imagenet or email Stills@bskyb.com

Notes To Editors

SEX SEASON
The BalletBoyz: Kama Sutra
This legendary book is reinterpreted into a ballet by one of the most dynamic and inventive dance companies in the world for this one-off documentary. The BalletBoyz use the Indian Hindu text as the inspiration for a new piece of work to produce a piece of work that links the modern take of the book in the West to the works’ ancient origins in India. Led by a team of award-winning choreographers;  Javier De Frutos, Paul Roberts and Fernanda Lippi , the programme follows the creative process and culminates in the work being performed for the first time.
Duration: 1 x 90 minutes
Production: Co-production between Rumpus Media and The BalletBoyz
TX:   Wednesday 5th August at 9pm

Songs To Have Sex To
As a DJ and all-round musical connoisseur, Edith Bowman has always been fascinated by the relationship between sex and music. As she embarks on a mission to find out what makes a great song to have sex to, Bowman takes us on a journey into art, science and pop culture – and finds out along the way if her own favourite (Patti Smith’s Gloria) can be trumped.
Duration: 1 x 60 minutes
Production: Acme Films
TX:   TBC

The Art of The Joy of Sex
In this one-hour special, accomplished modern artist and illustrator Julie Verhoeven re-interprets the iconic 1970s book through a piece of artwork and in doing so expresses her understanding of the joy of sex in the 21st century. On her journey, Verhoeven meets the original ‘The Joy of Sex’ illustrator Chris Foss, who reveals the behind-the-scenes detail of putting together the original collection of images.
Duration: 1 x 60 minutes
Production: Maverick TV
TX:   Wednesday 12th August at 9pm

Erotic Adventures of Anais Nin
A celebration of Anais Nin’s ground-breaking diaries, Erotic Adventures of Anais Nin brings her voice to the fore in a way not seen before on television. Combining dramatizations of Nin’s life – with Nin depicted by Lucy Cohu - with high-profile women, like writer and broadcaster Rowan Pelling, who have been affected by her work, the documentary will bring Nin to life for a whole new generation.
Duration: 1 x 90 minutes
Production: IWC Media
TX:   TBC

MUSIC
Lenny Henry’s Got The Blues
Lenny Henry wants to fulfil a dream: to become Britain's first black blues singer. In this three-part documentary series, Henry talks to Van Morrisson, Tinie Tempah and Jools Holland amongst others on a quest to discover why the UK has never produced a single black blues singer of international fame. The series follows him as he records his first blues music album and culminates in a live performance in London where Lenny will be singing and playing, joined on stage by talented friends including Lulu, Mica Paris and Laura Mvula.
Duration: 3 x 60 minutes
Production: 7Wonder
TX:   Wednesday 12th August at 9pm

Guitar Star
The nine-part series, presented by Edith Bowman, is a search for a new star player of any type of guitar to be crowned Guitar Star 2015 and play a set on stage, live at Latitude Festival. The competing guitarists will be tested on their ability to play both in a range of musical styles and a genre of their choice, and will perform at famous venues associated with their chosen style. Throughout the process, they will meet and audition in front of the guitar world’s leading industry experts including composer and producer Nitin Sawhney and the Fun Lovin’ Criminals frontman Huey Morgan . The semi-finalists will hone their act in a recording studio, where they will work with a global guitar legend to perfect their sound, before four finalists will compete to take to the main stage at the 10th Latitude Festival.
Duration: 9 x 60 minutes
Production: Somethin’ Else
TX: Tuesday 9th June at 8pm

FACTUAL
The South Bank Sky Arts Awards
These are one of the world’s most coveted arts awards, recognising the best of the best across all genres of the Arts including Dance, Opera, Comedy, TV Drama, Literature, Classical Music, Pop, Film, Visual Art and Theatre. A unique event in the British awards calendar, The South Bank Sky Arts Awards will be hosted by Melvyn Bragg who returns as editor and master of ceremonies at the Awards at The Savoy Hotel on Sunday 7th June at 7:30pm. Previous winners include Harold Pinter, J. K. Rowling, Dame Judi Dench, The Who, Seamus Heaney, Tom Stoppard, Tracey Emin and Alfred Brendel.
 Duration: 1 x 90 minutes
Production: Director’s Cut Productions
TX:   Wednesday 10th June at 8pm

The South Bank Show
The most respected arts programme in the world, The South Bank Show, returns to Sky Arts in June with a great line-up of in-depth interviews, showcasing the works of the finest living practitioners across the arts. Edited and Presented by Melvyn Bragg, the new series will look at a catholic range of subjects from classical music, dance, theatre and contemporary art and will feature the likes of Mark Rylance, Laura Mvula, Joseph Calleja and George RR Martin. The show came to Sky Arts in 2012 but has been a lynchpin of arts and culture broadcasting for over thirty-three years, exploring the works of some of the finest living artists, musicians, performers and writers.
Duration: 6 x 60 minutes
Production: Director’s Cut Productions
TX:   Wednesday 17th June at 9pm

DRAMA
King for a Term
Idris Elba has penned this intimate piece taken directly from his school days in Hackney. Funny, playful, personal and yet wholly accessible to anyone who has ever felt like a bit of an outsider, King For A Term stars a new cast of up-and-coming acting talent.
Duration: 1 x 30 minutes
Production: Sprout Pictures
TX:   TBC

The Marriage of Reason and Squalor
This highly original, twisted ‘romance’ from visual artist Jake Chapman stars Rhys Ifans and rising star, Sophie Kennedy Clark in a wildly imaginative, hypnotic and strangely unsettling four-part drama. Taking inspiration from romantic novels of times gone by, The Marriage of Reason and Squalor (WT) celebrates the genre and offers a playful twist on tried and test romance themes.
Duration: 4 x 30 minutes
Production: Morass Productions
TX:   Thursday 11th June at 9pm

Birthday
Stephen Mangan appears alongside Anna Maxwell Martin and Louise Brealey as he’s never been seen before in Birthday, written by Joe Penhall and adapted from his sell-out 2012 Royal Court play. Directed by the award-winning Roger Michell, Birthday is a hilarious, thoughtful and deeply moving exploration through existential questions, gross-out humour and high-drama into the very heart of modern relationships.
Duration: 1 x 70 minutes
Production: Slam Films
TX:   Tuesday 9th June at 9pm

PHYSICAL COMEDY
Ruby Robinson
Ruby Robinson is a silent comedy starring Kim Cattrall. Cattrall plays Ruby, who lives in a huge, isolated and dilapidated house with a troupe of unusual acrobat helpers that she has come to take for granted. She yearns for the company of her nephew and his family but a visit from them spells trouble for Ruby, who comes to learn to appreciate that the people who truly love her are right under her nose. Ruby Robinson features some seemingly impossible physical feats and tells an unusual comic morality tale. It was written by Mike Wozniak who plays the scheming nephew; his sadistic wife is played by Cariad Lloyd.
Duration: 1 x 30 minutes
Production: King Bert Productions
TX:  TBC

Three Kinds of Stupid
Three Kinds of Stupid is a three stooges style physical comedy starring Seann Walsh, Marek Larwood and Jocelyn Jee Esien, written by Chris Reddy. It follows the misadventures of three community police officers who befriend a blind man, played by Jim Moir (aka Vic Reeves).  Things go badly wrong when one of the gang accidentally kills the blind man's guide dog with a prawn sandwich. Unable to tell him about the tragedy, they go to elaborate ends to convince him his dog is still alive and well.
Duration: 1 x 30 minutes
Production: Little Comet
TX:  TBC

Rotters
Blending Oceans 11 with Dumb and Dumber, Rotters follows a blundering gang of idiots who attempt to rob an auction house owned by an antiques dealer, played by Frank Skinner. Continually stepping on each other's toes, the motley crew – played by Phil Burgers (aka 2013 Foster’s Edinburgh Comedy Award winner Dr Brown), John Kearns, Sam Simmons, Lolly Adefope and Daniel Simonsen – battle against a dazzling array of security devices, a meddlesome traffic warden played by Pat Cahill and their own incompetence in this action–packed slapstick riot of a show.
Duration: 1 x 30 minutes
Production: Eleven Film
TX:  TBC

BrilliantMan!
Kevin Eldon appears as wannabe suburban superhero in a dialogue-free physical comedy. Also featuring Johnny Vegas, who plays his sour-tempered landlady, Mrs. Wardle, 'Brilliantman' follows the adventures of humble council worker Ian Hedge who, having assumed his secret identity as Brilliantman,  tangles with a variety of local characters including a mugger, a burglar and a potentially murderous parrot. With the best intentions in the world, what our caped crusader lacks in dynamism, he more than makes up for with sheer incompetence.
Duration: 1 x 30 minutes
Production: What Larks Productions
TX: TBC

FOREIGN LANGUAGE
The Legacy
The highly-anticipated second series of Scandinavian drama The Legacy returns to Sky Arts in June to pick up where it left off with the dysfunctional yet captivating Grønnegaard family, played by top-brass Danish actors Trine Dyrholm, Jesper Christensen, Lene Maria Christensen and Carsten Bjørnlund. Directed by the internationally acclaimed actor and director Pernilla August and created by author Maya Ilsøe, The Legacy is produced by the leading European production house DR Fiktion – the BAFTA and International Emmy© Award-winning production unit behind the drama series The Killing and Borgen.
Duration: TBC
Production: DR Fiktion
TX:   Friday 12th June at 9pm

Dag
Dag is the name of the Norwegian couples therapist ploughing a lonely furrow in the world of relationship reconciliation: his philosophy that people should live alone. But Dag’s own life of solitude and self-medication is threatened when he falls in love with an equally damaged woman — with darkly humorous consequences.  Hugely-celebrated in its native Norway, the 10 part series Dag offers a darkly hilarious perspective on modern life, love and relationships.
Duration: 10 x 30 minutes
Production: Nordic World
TX:   TBC

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