Sky One pours millions into bestseller dramas

Sky One is investing its biggest sum yet in original drama, pumping more than £10m into adapting a trio of bestselling books.

The satellite broadcaster said an eight-figure sum would fund three series made in HD over 2008/9, representing one of the biggest commitments to HD drama by a UK broadcaster. The channel has also ring-fenced an additional £1m development fund that will be split between numerous projects.

Andy Harries' indie, Left Bank Pictures, will develop Strike Back, a 6 x 60-minute series based on ex-SAS man Chris Ryan's bestseller.
Strike Back is the story of two soldiers: Britain's most celebrated military hero and a broken veteran living in the gutters of London. Their paths crossed 20 years ago but they are reunited by a hostage crisis in the Middle East.

Sky One has also commissioned Feel Films producer Nick Hirschkorn to develop a 120-minute adaptation of Skellig, the bestselling children's book by David Almond. It tells the story of a boy called Michael whose little sister is seriously ill and who discovers a strange, magical creature called Skellig living in the garage of his new home.

Hirschkorn's previous children's adaptations include Five Children and It by E Nesbit for the BBC. Completing the trio is Terry Pratchett's Going Postal, as revealed by broadcastnow.co.uk. It will be the third novel in the Discworld series to be made into 2 x 120-minute specials by Mob Films with Rod Brown and Ian Sharples as producers.

The broadcaster won a Bafta for its adaptation of Pratchett's The Hogfather last year while this Easter it will premiere The Colour of Magic.
Sky managing director, entertainment Sophie Turner Laing told Broadcast that Sky One's first major push into UK drama was focused on book adaptations because of the "competitiveness of the multichannel world".

"We want to walk before we can run," she said. "Sky One has a history of importing quality dramas and, apart from the long-running Dream Team, British drama was the one bit of our DNA that was missing. As we are not renowned for drama, it made sense to go for stories that already have a knowledge base." She said the plan was to eventually look at commissioning original material.
Turner Laing added Sky One also had other drama projects in development that were likely to be revealed in the coming months. She said the investment in drama was "very much a long-term plan" and that the broadcaster wanted to deliver four drama pieces every financial year (July-June).

The 2008/9 slate is spearheaded by Turner Laing, Sky One director of programmes Richard Woolfe and drama commissioner Elaine Pyke.
No transmission dates have been set for Strike Back and Skellig but Going Postal will air in 2009. Casting will also be confirmed at a later date.

Source: Broadcast Now