Sky commissions raft of factual content
August 26, 2021
Sky has unveiled four new titles for Sky Documentaries and a series each for Sky Crime, Sky Nature and Sky History. The seven new commissions, which will also air on streaming service NOW, build on a slate that has already attracted record-breaking audiences to the channels.
The newly commissioned titles for Sky Documentaries include The Devil’s Advocate, which unravels the epic, stranger-than-fiction tale of Giovanni di Stefano, who rose to become a notorious criminal lawyer without any legal qualifications. Red Elvis will chronicle the forgotten story of Dean Reed – an American who defected to the East at the height of the Cold War to achieve superstar status in the Soviet Bloc. The Billion Dollar Scoundrel (working title) investigates the unbelievable story of Allen Stanford, who conned his way into billions of dollars and used his fortune to lure the English cricket team to a ‘winner takes all’ one-off game against the West Indies. Hijacked: Flight 73 tells the story of one of the most shocking hijackings of all time, when Palestinian terrorists stormed Pan Am Flight 73.
True-crime series, The Angel of Vengeance (working title) tackles the shocking story behind one of the most extraordinary cases in British criminal history. The series will uncover the story of Crystal Hunnisett, who to some is guilty of two gruesome murders and to others is a victim of abuse and should be acquitted. The series will air on Sky Crime in October.
On Sky History, The Royal Bastards: The Rise of The Tudors (working title) charts the incredible true story of one of England’s most powerful and little-known women, Lady Margaret Beaufort, who navigated her way through one of the most turbulent and bloody periods in British history to secure her son as a successor to the throne. The docu-drama series stars, Sheila Atim as Queen Margaret of Anjou and Philip Glenister for the House of York. The actor playing Margaret Beaufort will be announced imminently.
In a landmark natural history series, Sky Nature introduces Chasing the Rains. Shot in 4K, the four-part series will shine a light on life in the animal kingdom of Northern Kenya. Here, cheetahs, elephants and wild dogs battle against the merciless Kenyan climate to survive.
Sky’s Director of Documentaries and Factual, Poppy Dixon, said: “From profiling famous and infamous characters, to unravelling little known historical events and using innovative technology to explore the natural world, we are proud to bring viewers a diverse range of true stories that will inspire, inform and entertain. We hope to continue our record-breaking year with these new additions to the slate”
The newly announced titles are currently in production and post-production and will air in late 2021 and 2022 across Sky and NOW.