Sky Reveals New & Exclusive Original Series & Movies

More than 125 new Sky originals are set to premiere this year, with newly unveiled highlights such as the drama This Sceptred Isle, in which Kenneth Branagh will play U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

The five-part drama will chart the events surrounding the U.K. Prime Minister, the government and the country in the face of the first wave of the global pandemic. Also on the drama slate, Wolfe features Babou Ceesay (Guerilla, Rogue One) as a lauded forensic pathologist in a series written by Paul Abbott (Shameless, No Offence, Clocking Off).

In The Midwich Cuckoos, John Wyndham’s classic science-fiction novel is given a modern adaptation for the screen by David Farr (The Night Manager). Extinction is a propulsive action thriller about a man who joins an organization that can turn back time in order to save the planet from catastrophic events.

These new series join a lineup of Sky original dramas already coming in 2021, including Landscapers starring Academy Award winner Olivia Colman, new prison break drama Intergalactic and returning hits Britannia and Temple.

For the first time ever, this year Sky and NOW TV will be bringing 30 new original films and 30 new original documentaries, on top of the drama, comedy, entertainment and arts series. Altogether, it represents 50 percent more original TV and film than last year.

Regarding documentaries, Liverpool Narcos features unprecedented access to some of the biggest players in a story of how drugs went mainstream and dealing became a multi-billion-pound business. The Bambers: Murder at the Farm uses first-hand testimony and unseen archive footage to re-examine the shocking events at White House Farm and explores evidence that has emerged since the original trial of Jeremy Bamber. Positive marks Britain’s 40-year struggle with HIV/AIDS, through interviews with some of the earliest HIV patients and real-life heroes. Gangs of Macaque Island is a lighthearted animal docu-soap, following the daily lives of rival black-crested macaque troops in the remote forests of Sulawesi’s Tangkoko National Park in Indonesia. Chernobyl ’86 tells the story of Chernobyl through newly discovered archive footage and original interviews with those who were there.

In the way of comedy and entertainment, Safe Space follows a psychotherapist in a small market town who dispenses advice to his clients to suit his own desperate need to control them—starring, written and created by BAFTA-winning comedian Greg Davies. Russell Howard’s Back To The Future Stand Up Show (wt) sees Russell Howard traveling around New Zealand and Australia in this new travelogue punctuated by stand-up comedy.

Original films include Save The Cinema, with Samantha Morton, Jonathan Pryce, Adeel Akhtar, Susan Wokoma and Tom Felton starring in this new British film based on true events. The United States v Billie Holiday, directed by Lee Daniels, follows how the U.S. government targeted beloved jazz icon Billie Holiday as part of their war on drugs. Kindred is a psychological thriller about a vulnerable mother-to-be who is taken in by her recently deceased boyfriend’s mother and stepson, who seem increasingly obsessed with her every move. Written by Irvine Welsh and Dean Cavanagh, Creation Stories charts the true story of the rise and fall of Creation Records and its infamous founder Alan McGee, who signed generation-defining bands such as Oasis and Primal Scream. In Six Minutes to Midnight, Emmy Award winner Eddie Izzard and Academy Award winner Judi Dench battle to protect a group of students from the grip of Hitler in this World War II thriller.

Zai Bennett, managing director of content for Sky UK & Ireland, said: “This year on Sky and NOW TV we’ve got an epic variety of entertainment for everyone, adding a brand-new slate of Sky original films and Sky original documentaries to our line-up of award-winning drama, comedy, entertainment and arts series.

“If you love film, Sky Cinema is the place for you with the latest box office movies alongside our new and exclusive 30 Sky original films, including A Boy Called Christmas and Save The Cinema and A-list stars from Judi Dench and Eddie Izzard through to Morgan Freeman and Robert De Niro. And if real-life stories are your thing, we’ve got compelling documentaries on everything from the drugs trade in 1980s Liverpool to the White House Farm Murders, alongside unmissable drama from world-class writers including Paul Abbott, David Farr and Joe Barton and Michael Winterbottom.”