Sky’s This England Scores Global Sales

The new Sky original drama This England, depicting Boris Johnson’s first months as prime minister of the U.K. and the first wave of the pandemic, has sold to 88 territories around the world.

The six-part series has been picked up by Movistar+ (Spain), Viaplay (the Nordics, Baltics, Poland, the Netherlands), Cosmote (Greece), OSN TV and OSN+ (MENA), M-Net (South Africa), BBC First (Australia) and TVNZ (New Zealand), among others.

Sky will debut the series this fall across all territories (the U.K., Ireland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Italy). The series is distributed internationally by Fremantle. Further deals will be announced in the coming weeks.

Produced by Richard Brown’s Passenger (True Detective, Catch-22, Outlaw King) and Revolution Films, This England stars Kenneth Branagh (Belfast, Tenet, Dunkirk) as Boris Johnson. It is co-written and directed by Michael Winterbottom (The Trip, 24-Hour Party People). Following his tumultuous first months as prime minister, the series traces the impact of the pandemic’s first wave on the U.K.

Jens Richter, CEO International of Fremantle, said, “This England is a truly unique drama that combines Michael Winterbottom’s talent for conveying powerful real-world stories with a stunning performance from Kenneth Branagh as U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson. This dramatic behind-the-scenes dramatization of how the government, the scientists, the medical community and ordinary people around England faced these extraordinary events will fascinate and compel viewers. We are honored to partner with such a fantastic array of buyers to bring this incredible story to audiences around the world.”