Sky announces two new original After Ever After comedies from David Walliams
Sky announces two new original After Ever After comedies from David Walliams
David Walliams, Sheridan Smith and Blake Harrison lead the cast for Sky One’s newest instalment Jack & The Beanstalk: After Ever After
Following last year’s hilarious Cinderella: After Ever After, Sky has announced the commission of two further instalments of the entertaining, family-friendly specials for Sky One and NOW TV; Jack & The Beanstalk: After Ever After and Hansel & Gretel: After Ever After.
Sky Original Jack and the Beanstalk: After Ever After will air this coming Christmas on Sky One and streaming service NOW TV and production is due to start next month. The Christmas special stars David Walliams, Sheridan Smith and Blake Harrison and is produced by King Bert Productions. It’s created and written by The Dawson Brothers and David Walliams, who takes on the role of the Giant in this reimagining of the classic tale. Alongside Walliams, Sheridan Smith (Cilla, Cleaning Up, The Royle Family) stars as The Woman with No Name, the self-proclaimed greatest giant-killer in the village and Blake Harrison (The Inbetweeners, Trust Me) as Dodgy Dave, a shifty market stall trader who sold Jack the magic beans. Further cast includes Jocelyn Jee Esien who plays Pat, Ashley McGuire as Mayoress and Daniel Rigby as the Baker.
All fairy tales end with ‘happily ever after’ but what happens after ever after? What happened after Jack defeated the giant? The 60-minute Christmas special begins where the fable ends, with a story of two very unlikely friends. We all thought Jack had put an end to the Giant but guess what? The Giant is concussed but very much alive and stuck on earth with no way back to his house in the sky. Jack must think on his feet and outsmart the angry villagers to get the giant home. Along the way, both characters discover their inner self belief and overcome their fears to help one another.
David Walliams said: “I often wondered what happened to Jack after ever after, so I decided to write a sequel because I can’t stop writing books! This is a star-studded festive treat - a comedy sequel to one of the best loved English fairy tales. I am delighted to be playing the Giant, alongside some of the biggest names in British TV.”
Sheridan Smith said: “This is a brilliantly funny piece and I’m so excited to be working with David again. My part ‘The Woman with No Name’, is a really fun part and like every baddie, she gets her comeuppance in the end! After the year we’ve had it’s the perfect story for Christmas that the whole family can enjoy together.”
Jon Mountague, Director of Comedy at Sky Studios, said: “Christmas is a time for love and cheer. And beanstalks. Once again David Walliams has bought a fairy tale cast to deliver a genuinely unique twist on an absolute classic. Fe Fi Fo Fum – I smell a wonderful treat for all the family this Christmas on Sky One.”
This funny, festive fairy tale sees David Walliams return to Sky One for a fourth consecutive Christmas following Cinderella: After Ever After (2019), The Queen and I (2018) and the international Emmy award-winning Ratburger (2017).
Sky have also revealed today that a third After Ever After special from King Bert Productions, written by Walliams and Kevin Cecil will be Hansel & Gretel: After Ever After. David Walliams will head up the cast once again with further announcements to follow.
Jo Sargent, Executive Producer and MD of King Bert Productions, said: “To be recreating these two-classic tales with a twist, building on the love and enthusiasm for Cinderella: After Ever After is something we’re incredibly excited about. David has a unique way of bringing these stories to life in the most wickedly funny way supported by our stellar cast in Sheridan Smith, Blake Harrison, Jocelyn Jee Ession, Ashley McGuire and Daniel Rigby. I believe all generations of the family will love these new tales.”
Commissioned by Zai Bennett, Sky UK’s Managing Director of Content and Jon Mountague, Director of Comedy at Sky Studios, and executive produced for Sky by Tilusha Ghelani, Jack & The Beanstalk: After Ever After is produced by King Bert Productions and executive produced by Jo Sargent (Malory Towers, Ratburger). It is directed by David Sant (The Reluctant Landlord, Benidorm, Yonderland) and produced by Adam Browne. Dan Zeff, Bafta award-winning director (Inside No 9), directs Hansel & Gretel. International distribution will be handled by NBCUniversal Global Distribution on behalf of Sky Studios.
For more information please contact:
Hannah.harris-turner@premiercomms.com
About Sky
With 24 million customers across six countries, Sky is Europe’s leading media and entertainment company and is proud to be part of the Comcast group. Our 32,000 employees help connect our customers to the very best entertainment, sports, news, arts and to our own local, original content.
Following the success of Sky originals like Chernobyl, we plan to double our investment in original content by 2024. We’re also developing a new TV and movie studio, Sky Studios Elstree, which is expected to lead to the creation of over 2,000 new jobs and generate an additional £3 billion of production investment in UK creative sector in the first five years alone.
Our technology allows Sky customers to watch what they want, when they want, how they want and connects millions of people to content they love. And our online streaming service, NOW TV, brings viewers all the enjoyment of Sky with the flexibility of a contract-free service.
We also believe that a company of our scale has a responsibility that goes beyond our business, and into the community. We recently announced a series of commitments to help tackle racial injustice and improve diversity and inclusion. To ensure the commitments are delivered, Sky will invest £10million per year across its markets for each of the next three years. We’re committed to being Europe’s first net zero carbon entertainment company by 2030 – two decades before we have to – and we’re an inclusive employer recognised by The Times and Stonewall for our commitment to diversity.
About NOW TV
NOW TV is a leading UK streaming service, giving you the best TV, box sets, movies, sports and kids entertainment whenever, and wherever, you want it. Pick from the range of content passes including Entertainment, Sky Cinema, Sky Sports, Kids and reality TV with hayu.
You can stream content to watch through the NOW TV app, available on over 60 devices including the NOW TV Smart Stick and Smart Box and even download your favourite shows and movies to watch on the go.
NOW TV is the home of the best new and original British comedies, Oscar, BAFTA, and Emmy award winning dramas, Sky Originals and movies. NOW TV customers can enjoy over 30 new movies every month and Sky Atlantic shows, without a contract.
Sports fans can enjoy all the action across all 11 Sky Sports channels through day, week or month passes.
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About King Bert
King Bert Productions is a UK television production company specialising in comedy, children’s and drama programming. Recent productions include the Emmy Award-winning Ratburger, The Queen and I and Sick Note for Sky One and the BAFTA award-winning Grandpa’s Great Escape and The Midnight Gang for BBC One.
The Dawson Brothers
The Dawson Brothers – strictly speaking two brothers, Steve and Andrew, and the adopted Tim Inman – are a team of comedy writers who have written on a plethora of British comedy shows, including the hit comedies That Mitchell and Webb Look, Lee Mack's All-Star Cast and The Jonathan Ross Show. Their sketch for The One Ronnie on BBC1 starring Ronnie Corbett and Harry Enfield is the most viewed BBC clip online.
