The therapist’s door opens as Psychobitches comes to Sky Arts this May

Wednesday 1 May 2013

Starts on 30th May at 9pm on Sky Arts 1 HD

Following the success of last year’s one off, PLAHOUSE PRESENTS…PSYCHOBITCHES is returning to Sky Arts this May. Featuring an all-star cast of acclaimed and celebrated comedic talent, the new five-part comedy series is co-written and directed by The League of Gentleman’s Jeremy Dyson. The comedy, produced for Sky Arts by Tiger Aspect, puts history’s most famous women into the psychiatrist’s chair and shines a spotlight on their psychoses and obsessions.

PLAYHOUSE PRESENTS…PSYCHOBITCHES gives a twisted portrayal of iconic women in front of discerning therapist Rebecca Front (The Thick of It, The Spa). The series includes Julia Davis (Hunderby, Gavin and Stacey) as Enid Blyton, Sharon Horgan (Pulling) as Eve, Sam Spiro (Grandma’s House) as Audrey Hepburn, Frances Barber (The Spa, Silk) as Bette Davis, Kathy Burke (Walking and Talking, Gimme Gimme Gimme) as Mona Lisa, and Katy Brand (Little Crackers, Mongrels) as Mary Shelley. The series also has appearances from the likes of Tamsin Egerton (The Look of Love), Selina Griffiths (The Smoking Room), Zawe Ashton (Fresh Meat), Jo Scanlan (Getting On, The Thick of It), Sarah Solemani (Bad Education) and Sharon D Clarke (Holby City). In addition to the all-star woman cast PSYCHOBITCHES has characters from Jack Whitehall (Bad Education, Fresh Meat), Harry Enfield (Kevin and Perry Go Large) and reunites The League of Gentlemen team with Jeremy Dyson writing parts for Mark Gatiss (Sherlock, Doctor Who), Reece Shearsmith (Psychoville and Shaun of the Dead)and Steve Pemberton (Benidorm, Whitechapel).

In the first episode Frances Barber and Mark Gatiss fight over diva status as Bette Davis and Joan Crawford; Selina Griffiths, Katy Brand and Sarah Solemani star as the squabbling Bronte sisters, while Julia Davis plays a less than cheery Sylvia Plath.

Episode two sees an equally eccentric line up with Steve Pemberton playing an unusually gruff Dian Fossey. Katy Brand's pork pie-munching Diana Dors is confronted by Sam Spiro's glamorous Marilyn Monroe, while Sharon Horgan gives her take on a brooding Virginia Woolf and a love-struck Cleopatra.

PSYCHOBITCHES forms part of the PLAYHOUSE PRESENTS… series championing innovative productions and original writing, and underlines Sky’s commitment to UK origination, building on the pledge to invest £600m in original content by 2014.

PLAYHOUSE PRESENTS…PSYCHOBITCHES will air on Sky Arts 1 HD on 30th May at 9pm and on the move with Sky Go.

ENDS

For further information please contact:

Annabel Rudden

Publicist, Sky 1 and Sky Arts 

T: +44 (0)20 7032 6845

M: +44 (0)7901 008 196

annabel.rudden@bskyb.com

 

www.skypressoffice.co.uk

Follow us on Twitter @skyarts

For images visit www.image.net or email StillsDepartment@bskyb.com

 

For further information please contact

Annabel Rudden - Junior Publicist, Sky 1 HD

T: 

E: annabel.rudden@bskyb.com

Notes to editor

About Sky

Sky is the UK and Ireland’s leading home entertainment and communications company. Around 40% of all homes have a direct relationship with Sky through its range of TV, broadband and home telephony services. 

Sky is the UK’s biggest investor in television content, investing more than £2.3 billion a year in channels such as Sky 1, Sky Atlantic, Sky Living, Sky Arts, Sky Sports, Sky Movies and Sky News.   Around two-thirds of Sky’s content spend is invested in the UK and Sky is the fastest-growing source of investment in original British programmes. More than 30 million people watch Sky content each week.

Alongside its commitment to offering customers a greater choice of high-quality content, Sky is a leading innovator. Customers enjoy total control and flexibility over their favourite TV through Sky+, watch TV on the move through Sky Go, and enjoy the best quality TV experience at home through High Definition and 3D.  

Sky distributes its content broadly over several platforms, including satellite, cable, IPTV, mobile and WiFi. NOW TV, Sky’s second consumer brand, builds on the company’s leadership in internet TV. Sky is also the UK's fastest-growing home communications company and favourite ‘triple-play’ provider of TV, broadband and home phone. 

Sky believes in making a wider contribution to the communities in which it operates by taking positive action on the environment, supporting grassroots sports and increasing access to, and participation in, the arts. Sky employs 23,000 people, has annual revenues of £6.8 billion and is estimated to support a £5.4 billion contribution to UK GDP. Sky is listed on the London Stock Exchange (BSY). www.sky.com/corporate 

About Sky Arts

Sky Arts offers an eclectic mix of the best music, arts, biographies, chat shows, film, drama and comedy. Sky is the only broadcaster in the UK and Ireland with channels dedicated solely to the arts, with 48 hours of the best arts content from around the world across Sky Arts 1 and Sky Arts 2 daily. Sky Arts now reaches more than 6 million viewers every month.

Recent highlights include Playhouse Presents… a series of one-off comedies and dramas starring world-renowned talent including Jon Hamm, Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Thompson, Sir Tom Jones, Brenda Blethyn, David Tennant and Alison Steadman. The channel was also responsible for resurrecting the much-loved South Bank Show and The South Bank Show Awards. Sky Arts also encourages new formats and methods for accessing the arts, working with the ENO and National Gallery to beam the world’s first live opera and first live opening night of an exhibition in 3D to cinemas across the UK and Ireland.

Sky Arts also seeks to connect with culture on the ground; creating and collaborating with the best of the arts in the UK and Ireland to bring new experiences to life. Sky Arts has collaborated with a number of arts organisations including the English National Ballet and has supported the Hay Festival as broadcast partner since 2006. The Sky Arts Ignition Series launched in in 2011 to invest in the arts landscape of the UK. The Series will seek to collaborate with six arts organisations over the next three years in the creation of brand new works; Sky Arts Ignition Series: Futures Fund will support five young artists with a bursary of £30,000 each, enabling Sky Arts to back the creation of new works of art as well as nurture emerging talent.

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