New Commissions for Sky

Sky has ordered the new drama series A Town Called Malice for Sky Max and NOW, as well as a new comedy series and a panel show reboot.

The new eight-part crime thriller A Town Called Malice is a co-production between Vertigo Films, Sky Studios and Rogue State. Created and written by Nick Love (Bulletproof, The Sweeney), it follows a crime family of petty thieves from South London who flee to Costa del Sol in the 1980s.

The family has fallen to the bottom of the criminal food chain in London, but they realize that moving to Costa del Sol provides them with the perfect opportunity to re-invent themselves and re-capture their former glory. Filming for A Town Called Malice is set to begin later this year and run into 2022 in London and Spain. It is set to hit Sky Max and NOW in late 2022.

Gabriel Silver, director of commissioning of drama at Sky Studios, said: “If Dallas and Pulp Fiction created a love child to the strains of Duran Duran, it would be A Town Called Malice—an intoxicating cocktail of ’80s romance, avarice and violence, served up with pineapple chunks and an umbrella. Brought to life so brilliantly by Nick Love’s scripts, audiences will be taken back to the vivid world of the Costa del Sol in its pomp, with a glorious take on the soundtrack of the era. The series is a fantastic addition to our growing lineup of home-grown, British drama on Sky in 2022.”

Love commented: “I’m over excited and hugely grateful to Sky for supporting my vision once again. I have lived and breathed Malice for the past few years, and for it finally to come to fruition is a dream come true.”

Jane Moore, CEO of Vertigo Films, said: “Vertigo is delighted to be working once again with Sky and our long-time friend and colleague, Nick Love, on this exciting project and look forward to bringing Nick’s unique vision of the ’80s to life on screen.”

A new comedy series starring Gemma Arterton has also been commissioned for Sky and NOW. Based on Nick Hornby’s best-selling book Funny Girl, it follows as a young woman from Blackpool finds her comic voice in the male-dominated world of the 1960s sitcom. The London she encounters, however, is not quite like the one she’d read about and seen on TV.

Sky has also released a first-look clip of the panel show Never Mind the Buzzcocks, which is making its return after being off the air for six years. Each week, the team captains (Noel Fielding and Daisy May Cooper) will be joined by celebrity guests such as Little Mix’s Jade Thirlwall, musician Anne-Marie and comedian Nish Kumar. It is set to premiere this fall on Sky and NOW.