Sky1 Takes New FOX Series

LONDON: Sky1 has nabbed the exclusive British TV rights to the new drama Lie to Me, which launched on FOX in the U.S. last night with British actor Tim Roth.

This is the first TV show for Roth, the Academy Award-nominee known for his roles in Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction, among others. He stars as Dr. Cal Lightman, a scientist who studies facial expressions and involuntary body language to read if someone is telling the truth. It is produced by Imagine Television in association with 20th Century Fox Television.

Sky1’s deal with Twentieth Century Fox Television Distribution grants it the exclusive free- and basic-TV rights, as well as non-exclusive rights for VOD and download-to-own. The series will air on Sky1 and Sky1 HD beginning this spring.

David Smyth, the head of acquisitions at Sky1, Sky2 and Sky3, called the show an "exemplary procedural drama and we know it will resonate with Sky’s customers. The series is generating tremendous buzz in the U.S. and, in a huge show of confidence, has been awarded the much coveted post-American Idol slot. We’re thrilled to continue our partnership with Fox and to strengthen our exceptional slate of U.S. programming."