Sky Atlantic HD commission Julia Davis comedy HUNDERBY from Baby Cow Productions

 ·        Written by and starring BAFTA® nominee Julia Davis

Sky Atlantic HD today (Thursday 26 January, 2012) announces the commission of HUNDERBY (7 x 30’), a black comedy written by and starring critically-acclaimed writer and actress Julia Davis, her first series since the award-winning Nighty Night. 

HUNDERBY was commissioned by Lucy Lumsden, Head of Comedy, Sky. Baby Cow Productions’ co-founders Henry Normal, Armando Ianucci and Lindsay Hughes will serve as Executive Producers. John Rushton (The Royle Family, Sunshine) will produce the series, and Tony Dow (Only Fools and Horses, Nighty Night) will direct. 

Julia Davis said: “I'm so excited to be making a series for Sky Atlantic HD, a channel that has so many of my favourite shows from around the world. It’s great to be working with Stuart Murphy and Lucy Lumsden again.” 

Lucy Lumsden commented: “The genius of Julia Davis comes to Sky Atlantic HD. Her sick and twisted sense of humour has found its natural home and we can’t wait to unleash it onto our customers later this year.” 

Naomi Gibney, Acting Channel Director, Sky Atlantic said: “Sky Atlantic is committed to creating smart and engaging British comedy that will resonate with our target audience.  Together with Kathy Burke’s Walking and Talking, Hunderby is a key title in our stellar comedy line-up.” 

Davis's inimitable of black comedy has set her apart from her contemporaries as one of the most unique talents around. Now, she turns her attention to the 1800s in HUNDERBY, which features Helene, a shipwreck survivor washed ashore near a small English village. There, she is swept off her feet by widowed pastor Edmund and the two soon marry, the puritanical Edmund believing his bride to be untouched by another man. But she has a history, a dark past that she cannot escape. 

As Helene moves into Edmund's home, she falls under the watchful eye of housekeeper Dorothy (Davis) who is more than a little involved in her master's life, and quite obsessed with his dead first wife, Arabelle - to whom Helene simply does not compare. While Helene battles to keep her past a secret, she must navigate Dorothy’s devious scheming, her husband's harsh critique and a potential new love interest. 

In a gothic setting populated by the requisite cast of fiends, physicians, hunchbacks, wastrels, maids, crones, and an adorable puppy called Wilfred, HUNDERBY oozes with the dark and absurd humour that has become Julia Davis's trademark. 

HUNDERBY will go into production soon and will air on Sky Atlantic HD in summer 2012.  The series is 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 entertainment hits Got To Dance and A League of Their Own, dramas Mad Dogs and Treasure Island, and the BAFTA-winning documentary Flying Monsters 3D.

HUNDERBY is a Baby Cow Production for Sky Atlantic HD, and will be executive produced by Henry Normal, Armando Ianucci and Lindsay Hughes, and produced by John Rushton.

Luke Morrison - Publicity Manager, Sky Atlantic HD
T: 020 7032 1479
E: Luke.Morrison@bskyb.com

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E: claire.wilson@bskyb.com