Sky Documentaries announces brand-new Sky Original series exploring the rise and fall of former Spanish King, Juan Carlos I

Monday 16 January 2023

Series to receive first-look showcase at the Berlinale Series Market next month, part of the prestigious Berlin International Film Festival

Sky has today announced a brand-new, four-part documentary series which will explore the rise and fall of former Spanish King, Juan Carlos I. The Sky Original series will be coming to Sky Documentaries and NOW later this year.

For many years, King Juan Carlos I was a Spanish hero, celebrated around the world, for reforming Spain with his modern, progressive and democratic values until scandal and allegations surrounding his financial arrangements led to his abdication in 2014.

Told from the perspective of his close friends and confidants, palace insiders, former intelligence officials and critics, the four-part documentary series sheds a new light on the former King’s personal life including affairs, allegations of corruption, and alleged abuse of power – leading up to and including the events and circumstances of his abdication in 2014.

Taking viewers across the globe from Madrid to London, Monaco, Geneva, Abu Dhabi and New York; this high-end docu-thriller deals with the allegations surrounding the former King in a struggle for money, sex and power.

The series is produced byEmmy-nominated Christian Beetz, who created the series with Anne von Petersdorff and Georg Tschurtschenthaler from Gebrüder Beetz Filmproduktion, and author Pedro Barbadillo. Executive Producers at Sky Deutschland are Christian Asanger and Felix Kempter, and for Sky Studios, Barnaby Shingleton. The four-part documentary series is being produced by Gebrüder Beetz Filmproduktion in association with Sky Studios.

The documentary series will receive a teaser showcase at the prestigious Berlin International Film Festival next month as part of the Berlinale Series Market session ‘Up Next: Germany’. The four-part series will be available in all Sky markets including UK, Ireland, Italy, Germany, Austria & Switzerland later this year. NBCUniversal Global Distribution handle international sales of the series on behalf of Sky Studios.

About Sky 

Sky is Europe’s leading media and entertainment company and is proud to be part of Comcast Corporation, a global media and technology company that connects people to moments that matter. Across six countries, Sky connects 23 million customers to the best entertainment, sports, news, arts and to our own award-winning original content. 

 Following the launch of Sky Glass, we now offer customers our strongest ever line-up of products and services. As well as the new streaming TV with Sky inside and everything integrated, customers can enjoy the award-winning Sky Q with all your favourite channels and apps in one place, and with Sky Go you can now access an even better experience on your devices. Sky TV has new channels, new shows and new deals with Peacock, Paramount+ and more. Sky Mobile was voted Best Pay Monthly and Best Value Pay Monthly network by Uswitch, and with Sky Broadband we’re offering our fastest speeds yet. 

 Building on the success of Sky Originals like Chernobyl, Gangs of London and Brassic, we are doubling our investment in original content by 2024 through Sky Studios. Our new TV and movie studio, Sky Studios Elstree, is expected to create over 2,000 new jobs and generate an additional £3 billion of production investment in the UK over the first five years alone. Sky News provides impartial and trustworthy journalism for free; Sky Arts is the UKs only dedicated free-to-air arts channel making the arts accessible for everyone and Sky Sports, our leading sports broadcasting service, brings customers some of the biggest and best global sporting events from the Premier League to Formula 1 and everything in-between. Sky Cinema is the home of Sky Original films with brand new films launching every month alongside an unrivalled range of the latest cinema releases and on demand library. 

 We believe that we can be a force for good in the communities in which we operate. We’re committed to being Europe’s first net zero carbon entertainment company by 2030 and we’re proud to be a Principal Partner and Media Partner of COP26 – the UN Climate Change Conference. We take pride in our approach to diversity and inclusion: we’ve been recognised by The Times and Stonewall for our commitment to diversity, and we’ve set ambitious 2025 targets to continue to increase diversity and representation. We’re also committed to investing £30million across our markets over the next three years to improve our approach to diversity and inclusion, and to tackle racial injustice. 

 About Sky Studios 

Sky Studios is Sky’s original programming arm across Europe.

We develop, produce, commission and fund original drama and scripted comedy for Sky’s 24m customers and beyond. Building on the success of critically-acclaimed Sky Originals including Emmy-winningChernobyl" Bafta-winningPatrick Melrose” and international hits "Das Boot", “Riviera” and “Britannia”, Sky Studios is the new creative home of must-see Sky Originals, such asThe Rising”, “Blocco 181” and “Souls”.

We’re an agile Studio, seeking out the best untold stories from new voices while working in creative partnership with today’s best writers, producers and on-screen talent to bring viewers stories they wouldn’t find anywhere else. 

With commissioning talent and production capability across the UK, Germany and Italy, we understand local tastes across Europe better than anyone else and have plans to more than double our investment in original content by 2024, fully supported and backed by Comcast NBCUniversal.

We’re also developing a new TV and movie studio, Sky Studios Elstree, which is expected to lead to the creation of over 2,000 new jobs and generate an additional £3 billion of production investment in the UK creative sector in the first five years alone. 

About gebrueder Beetz

Gebrueder beetz filmproduction is a prime documentary powerhouse, which produces internationally acclaimed, award-winning documentary features and series for cinema, TV and streaming – for the national as well as for the international market.

The company’s productions include the Emmy-nominated documentary THE CLEANERS, the first German Netflix Original documentary series A PERFECT CRIME and the Oscar-nominated documentary OPEN HEART.

Most recently released are the multi-award-winning prime documentary series REEPERBAHN Special Unit FD65 and #UNTERALMANS. According to the industry leader "Realscreen", gebrueder beetz filmproduction belongs to the 100 most important independent production companies worldwide. Our company operates under the umbrella of LEONINE Studios since October 2022.