Elba leads Sky drama push

Luther star Idris Elba stars in Guerrilla

Luther actor Idris Elba is to star in a new political drama copro for Sky Atlantic and Showtime penned by 12 Years a Slave’s John Ridley.

Guerrilla (6×60’) follows a young couple whose relationship and values are tested when they liberate a political prisoner and form a radical underground cell in 1970s London.

Ridley will write, exec produce and direct the first two episodes of the series, which is being coproduced by Fifty Fathoms and ABC Signature for Sky in the UK and Showtime in the US.

The exec producers will be Ridley, for his International Famous Players Radio Picture Corporation; Patrick Spence and Katie Swinden for Fifty Fathoms; Tracy Underwood for ABC Signature; Elba for Green Door Pictures; and Michael McDonald for Stearns Castle.

Endemol Shine International and ABC Signature will share distribution rights to the series, which was commissioned by Sky’s head of drama Anne Mensah, commissioning editor Cameron Roach and director of Sky Atlantic Zai Bennett. Production begins in London this summer.

Anne Mensah

European satcaster Sky has commissioned a further five dramas as it continues to boost its originals slate.

Sky Atlantic has confirmed that Tim Roth and Christina Hendricks will head the cast of Tin Star, a new series from screenwriter Rowan Joffe (28 Weeks Later) and produced by Kudos.

The 10×60’ series tells the story of a former London detective who has moved with his family to the Rocky Mountains to start a new life as a local police chief in an idyllic rural community. International distribution will be handled by Endemol Shine International and Sky Vision.
Meanwhile, Sky1 is launching a four-part event drama starring The Vicar of Dibley star Dawn French.

Delicious sees French plays a cook who was once married to a successful entrepreneur, chef and hotel owner, and with whom she had a daughter. The show is written by Dan Sefton and hails from Bandit Television.

Downton Abbey producer Carnival Film’s new project Jamestown has also been announced as a commission for Sky1.

The eight-part series, written by Bill Gallagher, charts the early days of the first British settlers as they begin their lives in the American colony of Virginia. The drama goes into production in April 2016 and will be distributed by NBCUniversal International.

Carnival’s Gareth Neame, Nigel Marchant and Richard Fell will executive produce and the producer is Sue de Beauvoir.

Sky Atlantic has also ordered Riviera, a thriller set in the South of France, starring Julia Stiles.

The series is based on an idea from the former manager of rock band U2, Paul McGuinness, and is being developed and produced by Archery Pictures and Primo Productions. Sky Vision is distributing the project, which airs on the channel in 2017.

Finally, Sky1 will launch drama The Last Dragonslayer over the Christmas period.

Based on the first of Jasper Fforde’s series of novels, and adapted by Tom Edge (Scrotal Recall), the series stars Ellise Chappell, John Bradley (Game of Thrones) and Ricky Tomlinson (The Royle Family) and is being produced by UK production company Blueprint Pictures and GroupM Entertainment.

The Last Dragonslayer will be shot on location from this month and will air exclusively on Sky Atlantic in the UK and Ireland.