Sky 1 HD’s Little Crackers line up is completed
BAFTA® award winner Darren Boyd joins Rebecca Front, Dylan Moran and Tommy Tiernan for Little Crackers third Christmas.
LONDON Tuesday 2 October, 2012: Today Sky 1 HD welcomes four more comedy stars of stage and screen to the fold. BAFTA® winner Darren Boyd (Spy) Rebecca Front (The Thick of It, Playhouse Presents), Dylan Moran (Shaun of the Dead) and Tommy Tiernan (Small Potatoes) complete the star-studded line up for 2012’s LITTLE CRACKERS. Returning to the channel for the third year, LITTLE CRACKERS is an award-winning series of shorts that showcases some of the UK and Ireland’s shining lights in comedy.
Rebecca Front said: "It's a real thrill to be allowed to do one of the Little Crackers. I love the series. And it's pretty weird but also lovely trying to recreate a story from your childhood, casting actors to play your family and even yourself. I hope what we're making will be personal, but will also resonate with people watching."
Already confirmed are Joanna Lumley (Absolutely Fabulous), who will also take on her directing debut with her short as will Omid Djalili (The Omid Djalili Show) and Caroline Quentin (Men Behaving Badly). Joanna finds herself retelling a story from her modelling days, as Caroline is visiting her mother in hospital and Omid tells us the story of him finding true love with his wife Annabel.
Joanna Lumley commented: "Directing an episode of Little Crackers was utterly wonderful: I had a brilliant team behind me and a hand-picked cast who couldn’t have been better. The story is based on my life as a model in the sixties and it was fascinating and thrilling to see the London scene I knew then being recreated before my eyes. I loved every minute of it: the casting and location finding, choosing the music and then the post production and editing after the shooting was over. I could become addicted to directing".
Omid Djalili added: "Coming face to face with the younger, better version of myself made me realise how handsome I used to be. Since filming finished I have been engaged in taking steps back to pinpoint exactly where it all began to go wrong".
This year’s line-up also has a 3D offering with Paul O’Grady (The Paul O’Grady Show) and Jason Manford (8 out of 10 Cats) both filming their tales in 3D as Jason re-examines his trip to the hospital as a child for an embarrassing procedure at the age of twelve.
Katy Brand (Nanny McPhee) and Alison Steadman (Abigail’s Party, Gavin and Stacey)and Sharon Horgan (Dead Boss, Pulling)have also decided to take a trip down memory lane forSky 1 this Christmas with their tales.
The series looks set to bring us even closer to our funny men and women as each tale has a behind the scenes element making the LITTLE CRACKERS star shine even brighter this Christmas.
Lucy Lumsden, Head of Comedy, Sky Entertainment says: “We are thrilled to be bringing LITTLE CRACKERS back to Sky 1 for a third year. The series has had two brilliant series so far and we are very proud to again be announcing the best names in comedy. This year we have a behind-the-scenes element to ensure we are bringing even more exclusive content to our customers.”
The new LITTLE CRACKERS will be produced by some of the best comedy production companies in the UK, including Baby Cow Productions, Bwark, Hillbilly, Left Bank Pictures, Little Comet, Merman, Pirate Productions, Sprout Pictures and Tiger Aspect Productions.
LITTLE CRACKERS are part of Sky's commitment to increase its investment in original British content by 50% over the next three years. By 2014, Sky expects to invest £600 million a year in British programmes across its portfolio of channels. This commitment follows the success of home-grown content such as Sky1 HD dramas MadDogs and Thorne and the BAFTA-winning documentary Flying Monsters 3D.
This commitment follows the success of home-grown content such as entertainment hits GOT TO DANCE, AN IDIOT ABROAD and A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN, dramas such as STRIKE BACK and MAD DOGS, comedies such as TROLLIED and THIS IS JINSY, and factual shows such as ROSS KEMP EXTREME WORLD and the BAFTA-winning documentary FLYING MONSTERS 3D. Other forthcoming highlights include the returning series of SPY starring BAFTA Award winning Darren Boyd and Robert Lindsay; Craig Cash’s THE CAFE; Ruth Jones’ STELLA; Charlie Brooker’s A TOUCH OF CLOTH starring Suranne Jones and John Hannah; and STARLINGS starring Lesley Sharpe and Brendan Coyle.
LITTLE CRACKERS have been ordered by Saskia Schuster and Lucy Lumsden who will also executive commission them for Sky.
For further information please contact
Rowan Adams - Senior Publicist, Sky1 HD, Sky Living HD
T: 020 7032 3078
E: rowan.adams@bskyb.com
Annabel Rudden - Junior Publicist, Sky 1 HD
T:
E: annabel.rudden@bskyb.com
Notes to editor
About Sky
Sky entertains and excites more than 10.4 million homes through the most comprehensive multichannel, multi-platform television service in the UK and Ireland. Sky continues to break new ground with its own portfolio of channels: Sky 1 combines its commitment to UK production with the best of the US; Sky Living pushes ahead with fresh and innovative entertainment formats; Sky Arts is the UK's only dedicated arts channel brand; Sky Atlantic is the home to HBO and other iconic drama and comedy, Sky Sports is still raising the bar in sports broadcasting; Sky News remains a pioneer in television news; and Sky Movies is leading the way in High Definition and on-demand.
Sky also works with dozens of other broadcasters on the satellite platform, as well as online and on mobile through the ground-breaking Sky Go service. Sky has also led the UK into the age of high definition television, launched Europe's first 3DTV channel, Sky 3D, and offers customer even more flexibility and choice through Sky Anytime+, its internet-delivered video on demand service. Since launching Sky Broadband and Sky Talk in 2006, the company has also been the UK's fastest-growing home communications provider.
Sky believes in making a wider contribution to the communities in which it operates, not least by increasing participation in, and access to, the arts, supporting grassroots sports, and taking positive action on the environment.
About Sky 1 HD:
Sky 1 HD is the most watched non-terrestrial channel in Sky homes, attracting more than 20m unique viewers every month and, according to the latest tracker results (October – December, 2011), was the third highest valued channel amongst all Sky subscribers behind only BBC1 and ITV1.
Sky 1 HD distinguishes itself from rival networks with original drama and comedy, talked about entertainment formats, distinctive factual programming and award-winning exclusive US drama.