Six New Original Dramas for Sky

LONDON: Among Sky’s newly unveiled original dramas are Jamestown, which comes from Downton Abbey producer Carnival Films, and Guerrilla, which sees the pairing of John Ridley (American Crime, 12 Years a Slave) and Idris Elba (Luther, Beasts of No Nation).

Guerrilla is a new 6×1-hour series set to air on Sky Atlantic and Showtime. Ridley will write, direct and executive produce. He will write the majority of the episodes and will direct the first two. Elba will co-star and serve as an executive producer through his Green Door Pictures. Guerrilla is a love story set against the backdrop of the politically explosive time of 1970s London. Endemol Shine International and ABC Signature will share distribution rights.

Jamestown is a new original drama for Sky 1. Set in 1619, the eight-part series will tell the story of the birth of a nation, charting the early days of the first British settlers as they embark on their lives in America.

Tim Roth (The Hateful Eight) and Christina Hendricks (Mad Men) will lead the cast of Tin Star, a new 10×1-hour epic for Sky Atlantic. Penned by Rowan Joffe (28 Weeks Later, The American) and produced by Kudos (The Tunnel: Sabotage, Humans, Broadchurch), the story is about corruption of innocence, murder, grief and all-consuming revenge, and is set against the backdrop of a remote and beautiful mountain town.

Dawn French (The Vicar of Dibley, Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie, The Wrong Mans, French and Saunders) will star in Delicious, a new four-part event drama for Sky 1. Set in the Cornish countryside, the series promises a story of love, heartbreak, food and female friendship. It is written by Dan Sefton (Mr Selfridge, Secret Diary of a Call Girl) and made by Bandit Television.

Neil Jordan (The Borgias) is behind the new thriller Riviera, set in the South of France. Coming to Sky Atlantic in 2017, the ten-part series is co-written with author John Banville (The Sea), and stars Julia Stiles (the Bourne series). The drama is based on an idea from former U2 manager Paul McGuinness and is being developed and produced by Archery Pictures and Primo Productions.

Jasper Fforde’s first series of novels serve as the inspiration for Sky 1’s The Last Dragonslayer. Adapted by Tom Edge (Scrotal Recall), the Christmas event will star Ellise Chappell, John Bradley (Game of Thrones) and Ricky Tomlinson (The Royle Family) and is being produced by Blueprint Pictures and GroupM Entertainment. The Last Dragonslayer will be shot on location from April 2016 and will be shown exclusively on Sky 1 in the U.K. and Ireland.

Gary Davey, the managing director of content at Sky, commented: “We know our original content is highly valued and a reason why customers choose and stay with Sky. Combining the scale and ambition of our Sky original productions with the best of the U.S. and exclusive partnerships with HBO and Showtime, we believe our customers enjoy a better choice of drama at Sky than anywhere else in the world.”

Anne Mensah, the head of drama at Sky, added: “Our customers adore original drama, whether that’s a rich and complex story line on Sky Atlantic or a blockbuster adventure on Sky 1. We are incredibly proud to be working with such amazing talent across all our dramas. Everything we do at Sky is about being passionate, bold and unique and that philosophy underlines every single one of these shows.”