Sky 1 HD commission a second series of Yonderland from Working Title Television
*STRICTLY EMBARGOED UNTIL MONDAY 30TH JUNE AT 00.01*
“Yonderland consistently takes the best of two worlds. It looks incredible but is more concerned with gags and plot; and crucially, it will make kids and adults laugh together, at the same jokes. If you don’t have Sky, gather the family and descend on a household that does.” – Radio Times
“Yonderland is a boundary-bashing family fantasy that brings handmade humour back to TV. From an audience point of view, though. Yonderland might simply provide what there isn’t enough of on TV: high-quality family comedy that manages to make both children and adults laugh” – The Times
(LONDON, Monday 30th June, 2014): BSkyB continues its commitment to investing in British productions with the re-commission of hit family comedy series, YONDERLAND. The series, created, written by and starring Mathew Baynton, Simon Farnaby, Martha Howe-Douglas, Jim Howick, Laurence Rickard and Ben Willbond, won the hearts of viewers and critics alike and is a Rose d’Or 2014 sitcom nominee. Produced by Working Title Television, with puppets by Baker Coogan, the series will be internationally distributed by Sky Vision, who will also handle distribution for series one. Filming will commence this autumn with the series set to return to Sky 1 in 2015.
Described by The Guardian as a “wondrous, surreal joy” and hailed by The Independent as "a family television classic" YONDERLAND follows the adventures of mum, aka The Chosen One, Debbie Maddox (Martha Howe-Douglas) who at the end of series one, rescued Elf and Nick the Stick from try-hard overlord Negatus’ lair and came face to face for the first time with his boss, the evil Imperatrix. Series two will see Debbie fighting an increasingly hard battle to keep her family life and her job as world saver separate.
As husband Peter’s (Dan Skinner) paranoia about strange goings on in the kitchen cupboard grows, Imperatrix intensifies her efforts to rid the realm of the final obstacle to total domination: Debbie of Maddox (the ‘of’ is optional). And all this while Debbie is being endlessly called upon by the Council of Elders to help them with tasks that reach well beyond her Chosen One remit.
Adam MacDonald, Director of Sky 1, said: “We are incredibly proud to be able to bring Yonderland back for a second joyful series. The show epitomises Sky 1, it is a brilliantly creative, cheeky, laugh-out-loud show that the whole family can relish”.
Lucy Lumsden, Head of Comedy, Sky Entertainment added: “We're delighted to be able to reunite the multi-talented Yonderland team for another series. Many more magical treats of silliness await".
Juliette Howell, Head of Television, Working Title Television commented: “It’s fantastic to be returning to Yonderland with our wonderfully creative, funny and talented team. It has been such a treat revisiting our favourite characters and seeing new ones emerge. We can’t wait for the audience to have a chance to enjoy them as well.”
YONDERLAND has been commissioned by Adam MacDonald and Lucy Lumsden and will be produced by Imogen Cooper for Working Title Television. The executive producers are Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner and Juliette Howell, and Lucy Lumsden for Sky. Steve Connelly will direct the series.
This latest Sky 1 commission closely follows the recent news of a new comedy from Craig Cash, AFTER HOURS which is a six part comedy series starring Ardal O’Hanlon, John Thomson and Jamie Winstone and Micky Flanagan’s first ever documentary series. MICKY FLANAGAN HITS THE ROAD, is an amusing, honest and energetic four part documentary series which sees the comedian undertake the ultimate test of man’s endurance as he cycles his very own fantasy Tour de France.
As part of Sky 1’sinvestment into shows for 8pm two new series have also been commissioned WELCOME TO MY GARDEN (w/t) and THE SUN SET (w/t). The first is WELCOME TO MY GARDEN (w/t) which celebrates the UK and Irelands’ passion for gardening and THE SUN SET (w/t), Sky 1’s first fixed rig series that explores the fascinating dynamics of the family holiday.
This year Sky will invest £600 million a year in original British content and production across its portfolio of channels. This commitment includes home-grown content such as entertainment quiz A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN, dramas such as MOONFLEET, THE TUNNEL, A YOUNG DOCTOR’S NOTEBOOK, FLEMING and CRITICAL, comedies such as STELLA, DOLL & EM, MOUNT PLEASANT and factual shows such as KARL PILKINGTON: THE MOANING OF LIFE, THE SOUTH BANK SHOW, DAVID ATTENBOROUGH'S NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM ALIVE and ROSS KEMP EXTREME WORLD.
ENDS
Notes to editor
For further information please contact:
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Notes to editors:
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