Sky announces the launch of Sky Documentaries, Sky Nature and Sky HISTORY.

Sky Documentaries and Sky Nature will be launching on 27th May 2020 alongside Sky HISTORY, a co-branded venture between Sky and A+E Networks previously known as HISTORY.

The new channels will include extensive on demand libraries and offer hundreds of hours of factual programming, providing an unmissable mix of premium, original commissions and acquired content.

The channels will be available to Sky customers at no extra charge through linear and on demand. They will also launch on NOW TV, available as part of the NOW TV Entertainment Pass.

Sky Documentaries will be the home of world-class, real life stories from award-winning film makers, including HBO, SHOWTIME® and Hulu exclusives and new Sky original documentaries. With a mix of feature length documentaries and series that will challenge, provoke and entertain, the channel will house 100 on demand titles. The channel will cover a wide range of topics from sport, to politics, to real-life controversies. Hillary (TX 11 June) provides a remarkably intimate portrait of public woman Hillary Clinton; McMillions (TX 27 May) tells the story of a gaming scam that lasted a decade; Ali Vs Cavett (TX 29 May) portrays the life of boxing legend Muhammad Ali through the lens of his frequent appearances on the Dick Cavett Show; Wu-Tang Clan: Of Mics and Men (TX 24 June)  looks back on the group’s career combining intimate and reflective interviews from each of the nine living members, and The Plastic Nile (TX 1 June) looks at the devastating effect of plastic pollution on the world’s longest river.

Sky Nature will be home to breath-taking natural history programming, dedicated to exploring the beauty and wonder of the natural world and inspiring us all to do more to look after it. The channel will feature landmark Sky original series Wild Animal Babies (TX 30 May) which follows Patrick Aryee and an adorable cast of baby animal characters as they face their first days, weeks and months on planet Earth. The channel will feature Sky’s existing David Attenborough collection and be the home of Love Nature programming with shows including Gangs of Lemur Island (TX 27 May), Africa’s Underwater Wonders ( TX 27 May) and Mysteries of the Mekong (TX 28 May).

Sky HISTORY tells ground-breaking stories full of colourful characters through a mix of award-winning, talent-led UK commissions, premium innovative documentaries and global hit franchise programming. Join host William Shatner and discover stories that have mystified mankind for centuries in The UnXplained (TX 9 June); explore the unique investigations into the engineering mysteries behind the world’s most breath-taking ancient monuments in Ancient Superstructures (TX 1 June). Secret Wars Uncovered (TX 19 June) reveals the facts behind battles that were shrouded in corruption and misinformation and Washington (TX 4 July), produced by renowned historian Doris Kearns Godwin and narrated by Emmy award-winning actor Jeff Daniels, chips away at the marbled image of America’s first president to seek the truth behind the legend.

Anarchic Sky Original Drama Britannia Set To Return For Third Series

Critically acclaimed Sky original drama Britannia has been recommissioned for a third series on Sky Atlantic and NOW TV.

Critically acclaimed Sky original drama Britannia has been recommissioned for a third series on Sky Atlantic and NOW TV. Starring David Morrissey, Mackenzie Crook, Annabel Scholey and Eleanor Worthington-Cox and created by the multi-award-winning writer Jez Butterworth, Tom Butterworth and James Richardson, Britannia brings a moment of our history to life like never seen before on TV. Produced by Vertigo Films in association with Neal Street Productions, it’s a genre-bending, psychedelic tale of clashing faith systems, torn apart families, mystic men, powerful women, all told with humour, heart and violence.

Britannia series two launched in November to widespread praise with The Guardian calling it “…one of those shows you just have to imbibe, celebrating that it has the sheer cheek even to exist. Praise the capricious TV gods!” Whilst The Times said it’s “… ethereal and wonderfully odd” and “……few shows embrace their own preposterousness quite as wonderfully as Jez Butterworth’s drama about the Roman conquest of Britain”.

In the first series of Britannia we followed the story of the Roman invasion led by General Aulus (David Morrissey) who sought to crush the Celtic heart of Britannia, a mysterious land led by warrior women and powerful Druids. In series two we joined General Aulus two years on from invading Britannia romanising willing Celt tribes with the help of Celtic Queen Amena (Annabel Scholey), and crushing those who tried to resist. The only form of hope for the Druids and Celts was Cait (Eleanor Worthington-Cox), a young girl being trained by outcast Druid Divis (played by Nikolaj Lie Kaas), to fulfil a prophecy that would save Britannia from the Romans. But an epic battle of wills divided the druids in the form of two Druid brothers – Veran and Harka (Mackenzie Crook) putting the prophecy in jeopardy.

Series three sees a radical transformation in Cait’s journey as the Chosen One with a decision that will tie her to the future of her war-torn people and their ravaged land. Aulus comes under pressure from a new and dark force – otherwise known as his wife, whilst Amena finds herself in a lethal Ménage à trois with both of them. Divis gets a new job which he despises, and Veran goes to the underworld and sees the future.

Cameron Roach, Director of Drama, Sky Studios said: “We are incredibly proud to be able to continue to grow the Britannia franchise bringing ‘Jez and the team’s unique and distinctive vision to life for a third series”.

Jez Butterworth added: We’re very excited to be continuing our mythic journey through Ancient Britain. This year was a particularly good vintage for mushrooms here in the West Country, so we strongly suggest you hold on to your hats.”

Britannia series three was commissioned by Zai Bennett, Sky’s Managing Director of Content and Cameron Roach, Sky’s Director of Drama. Gabriel Silver is the executive producer for the series for Sky. Series three is written by Jez and Tom Butterworth. Produced by Rupert Ryle-Hodges and executive produced by Vertigo Films’ James Richardson; and Neal Street Production’s Sam Mendes, Pippa Harris and Nicolas Brown with Jez and Tom Butterworth.

Sky 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.

2019 was a record year for Sky originals with Chernobyl winning 10 Emmy Awards making it the most awarded British series of the year. Away from the screen, Sky secured a record BAFTA haul with seven awards.

All episodes of series one and two of Britannia are available to watch on demand on Sky and NOW TV. Britannia VR: Out of Your Mind, Sky VRs brand new experience available now on SteamVR and the Oculus store.

International distribution is being led by NBCUniversal Global Distribution.