Sky original The Reluctant Landlord to return with a very festive one-off Christmas Special

Wednesday 4 December 2019

Romesh Ranganathan, Sian Gibson and fellow cast will also be joined by Jo Joyner for some festive shenanigans on Sky One

The Reluctant Landlord is confirmed to return to screens this December with a very festive Christmas Special, airing on Sky One and NOW TV. Jo Joyner (EastEnders) will also make a guest appearance as Natasha’s (Sian Gibson) not-so-welcome sister in the Christmas edition of the Sky original.

Romesh Ranganathan and Sian Gibson will be joined by the returning main cast including Yasmine Akram (Julie the barmaid), Nick Helm (Lemon, a regular), Marek Larwood (Lee, a regular), Steve Edge (David Foster, a rival publican) and Shaheen Khan (playing Romesh’s mum, Jayanthi).

The Christmas special of Romesh Ranganathan’s semi-autobiographical sitcom, which is produced by CPL Productions, a Red Arrow Studios company, in association with What Larks! and Rangabee Productions, will give viewers a glimpse into Christmas day at the ‘The Seven Swans’, airing on Monday 23rd December at 22.00.

Jo Joyner co-stars as Sarah, Natasha’s sister who turns up unannounced at the Ranganathan’s Christmas. Self-obsessed Sarah’s arrival puts the family on edge; from helping herself to Santa’s whisky to ‘helping’ the kids with their presents, her selfish traits cause comedic havoc throughout. Natasha tasks Romesh with the job of getting rid of her as quickly as possible - whatever it takes. Matthew Crosby also makes a guest appearance in the spirit of Christmas.

Romesh Ranganathan said: “It’s a real treat to have Jo Joyner join us for the one-off December special of The Reluctant Landlord. Having the entire cast around for Christmas was hilarious and we lost a lot of scenes to us cracking up on set. I hope everyone has as good a time watching it as we did making it.”

Tilusha Ghelani, Commissioning Editor, Sky commented: “After the success of the first and second series, we’re thrilled to introduce viewers to a festive edition of this joyful comedy – adding some ha has to your ho ho hos! With the likes of Jo Joyner joining Romesh, Sian Gibson and the original cast, The Reluctant Landlord is yet another example of the growing comedy offering on Sky One.”

Danielle Lux, Executive Producer for CPL, added: “It has been an utterly joyful series to work on with Romesh, the wonderful cast and crew, and our brilliant writers: we hope the viewers have as much fun as we did.”

Other forthcoming Sky original comedies include Code 404 with Stephen Graham and Daniel Mays; Intelligence fronted by David Schwimmer and Nick Mohammed; Hit Men, Mel and Sue’s first scripted comedy series, Breeders with Martin Freeman and series 2 of In The Long Run with Idris Elba.

Sky continues to invest in original productions and has recently committed to more than double its investment in original, drama, comedy and documentary through Sky Studios, the commissioning and production arm of Sky. Sky Studios brings to screen unique stories from the very best talent in Europe and is the creative home of Sky’s award-winning and much-loved Sky originals.


 

For more information please contact:

 

Callum Clark (Callum.Clark@premiercomms.com / 020 7292 7373)

Calum McGarry (Calum.McGarry@premiercomms.com / 020 7292 7340)

 

Notes to editors

 

About Sky

With 24 million customers across seven countries, Sky is Europe’s leading media and entertainment company and is proud to be part of the Comcast group. Our 31,000 employees help connect our customers with the very best of Sports, News, the arts and to our own local, original content. Following the success of Sky originals like Chernobyl, Patrick Melrose, Das Boot and Gomorrah we launched Sky Studios and now plan to more than double our investment in original drama and comedy over the next five years.

Our technology allows customers to watch what they want, when they want, how they want, and as we connect millions of families to content they love, it is our responsibility to do it safely – that’s why we offer services like Sky Broadband Buddy and the Sky Kids app. And our online streaming service, NOW TV, brings viewers all the enjoyment of Sky with the flexibility of a contract-free service.

We also believe that a company of our scale has a responsibility that goes beyond our business, and into the community. Our Sky Ocean Rescue campaign has reached millions across Europe, we’re on track to be free of single-use plastic by 2020, we’re investing £25million over five years in ocean-saving tech and we’re a proud employer – recognised by The Times and Stonewall for our approach to inclusivity.


About NOW TV


NOW TV is a pick and mix TV streaming service that lets you choose from a range of passes contract free. Available anytime, anywhere in the UK, you can watch through a NOW TV Box or NOW TV Smart Stick, or on the web. The NOW TV app is also available on over 60 devices. 

Whether you’re into big dramas, blockbuster movies, live sports or even just some extra TV for the kids, NOW TV offers four passes which include the latest and best TV and movies: Entertainment, Sky Cinema, Kids and Sky Sports. This includes Sky Atlantic, over 300 Box Sets on demand, all 10 Sky Sports channels and over 1,000 movies – all available with no contract. 


For more information:



About CPL Productions


CPL Productions, a Red Arrow Studios company and Edinburgh TV Festival’s 2018 Production Company of the year, is one of the most successful independent TV and radio production companies in the UK. An impressive roster of hit shows includes Sky One’s double BAFTA-winning series A League Of Their Own, the second series of Sky One comedy The Reluctant Landlord written by and starring Romesh Ranganathan, There’s Something About Movies for Sky 1, Channel 4’s multi-award winning Old People’s Home for 4 Year Olds, The Restaurant That Makes Mistakes (C4), Married At First Sight (C4) and the return of Harry Hill to our screens in NIT Television’s Alien Fun Capsule for ITV. There is also more of Harry Hill to come with new show Harry Hill’s Clubnite (C4). The company have recently entered into a collaboration with Ranga Bee Productions to create ‘Romesh Presents’ a series of comedy shorts for Sky One curated by Romesh Ranganathan.

Additional programmes include, Sky One’s A League of Their Own US and European Road Trips, Rob and Romesh Vs, ITV’s popular drama Brief Encounters and NIT TV's comedy sketch show for BBC Three, Ellie & Natasia.