Even serial killers have friends...hugely anticipated US thriller The Following to air on Sky Atlantic HD the day after US premiere

·         Created by Kevin Williamson and starring Kevin Bacon and James Purefoy

·         Starts Tuesday 22 January exclusive to Sky Atlantic HD

Sky Atlantic HD today (date) announces the much anticipated cat-and-mouse thriller THE FOLLOWING will debut on Tuesday 22 January, the day after the US premiere. Created by Kevin Williamson (The Vampire Diaries, Scream films), the series stars Golden Globe winner and Emmy® nominee Kevin Bacon (Mystic River, Apollo 13) and James Purefoy (Rome).

When notorious serial killer Joe Carroll (Purefoy) escapes from death row and embarks on a new killing spree, the FBI calls former agent Ryan Hardy (Bacon), a psychologically scarred veteran who captured Carroll nine years earlier, after Carroll murdered 14 female students on a college campus where he taught literature. Knowing Carroll better than anyone and close with Carroll's ex-wife, Claire (Natalie Zea, Justified), Hardy works closely with an FBI team which includes sharp upstart Mike Weston (Shawn Ashmore, X-Men: The Last Stand) and specialist Debra Parker (Annie Parisse, The Pacific). He soon discovers that Carroll was not only communicating with a network of killers in the outside world, but has much more planned than just a prison escape.

The tense thriller will follow Hardy and the FBI as they are challenged with the ever-growing web of murder around them, masterminded by the devious Carroll, who dreams of writing a novel with Hardy as his protagonist. The reinvigorated Hardy will get a second chance to capture Carroll, as he’s faced with not one, but a cult of serial killers.

Kevin Bacon said: “The script was a real page-turner. I picked it up and I read it all in half an hour. It scared the hell out of me, but I thought it was great. I also loved the character. I wanted to play a complex and damaged hero – and here he was right in front of me.”

THE FOLLOWING premieres exclusively on Sky Atlantic HD and Sky Atlantic +1 on Tuesday 22 January. Following the addition of Sky Atlantic HD to Sky Go, customers will also be able to watch THE FOLLOWING on the move on iPad, selected smartphones and laptops at no extra cost.

Notes to editor

For more information please contact:

Claire Wilson
Publicist, Sky Atlantic HD   
T: +44 (0)20 7032 3071                    
M: +44 (0)7920 027 764
claire.wilson@bskyb.com  

Megan MacLeod                                 
Publicist, Sky Atlantic HD

T: +44 (0)20 7032 4252                                    
M: +44 (0)7584 580 014
megan.macleod@bskyb.com

www.skypressoffice.co.uk
Follow us on twitter @skyatlantic
Photography available from www.image.net or StillsDepartment@bskyb.com

Notes to editors:

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