2010 promises to see Sky1 HD follow up another year of landmark drama, gripping factual series, engrossing entertainment, and the best of the U.S. with an absolutely amazing line up of programmes to look forward to.
Scroll through some of the upcoming new offerings - and check out some sneak peek pics in the gallery below!
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Got To Dance
The nation's biggest ever dance competition comes to Sky1 HD.
Starts 3 January 2010
Got To Dance is open to everyone – any age, formation, ability or style; from groups to solo efforts, hip hop to Bollywood, and for eight to 80 year olds. And hosting this incredible entertainment show will be the incomparable Davina McCall. The winning contestant or group will walk away with a life-changing cash prize of £100,000.
Auditions range from the comedic to the sublime and are presided over by a panel of outspoken world-class experts; West End star and movie actor Adam Garcia, Pussycat Doll Kimberly Wyatt and Ashley Banjo, lead dancer and choreographer of street dance crew Diversity. Judges will select the best contestants from auditions across the UK, held in specially constructed state-of-the art Got To Dance domes and in front of a live audience. The chosen dancers then progress to the spectacular live studio-based semi finals, where they will compete to win a place in the grand final, where one will be crowned Got To Dance Champion 2010.
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Sir Terry Pratchett's Going Postal
A stellar British cast line up for Sky1 HD's third outing into Sir Terry Pratchett's Discworld.
April 2010
Going Postal is a story of sweet romance and dark revenge set against an ongoing dispute between a traditional postal system and Discworld's equivalent of the internet. Richard Coyle (Coupling) and David Suchet (Agatha Christie's Poirot) headline an all-star cast that includes Charles Dance (Bleak House), Claire Foy (Little Dorrit), Andrew Sachs (Fawlty Towers), Timothy West (Bleak House), Steve Pemberton (Psychoville), Ian Bonar (Hotel Babylon) and Tamsin Greig (Green Wing).
When life as a travelling con artist catches up with swindler Moist Von Lipwig (Coyle), it looks as though he will face the death penalty. But awarded a last minute reprieve, Lipwig is given one more chance on the condition that he takes up the cursed role of postmaster, and transforms Ankh-Morpork's decrepit post office. Making an immediate enemy of bloodthirsty tyrant Reacher Gilt (Suchet), Lipwig's first instinct is to run… until he meets the spellbinding Adora Belle Dearheart (Foy) with whom he falls in love. But what they both are unaware of is the part Lipwig played in the downfall of the Dearheart family. Is their romance forever doomed?
Elsewhere on Sky1 HD's growing drama slate is the second Martina Cole adaptation, The Runaway, due for broadcast in summer 2010. And development is under way on the adaptation of the first two novels in Mark Billingham's Inspector Tom Thorne series, Sleepyhead and Scaredy Cat, with the incredible David Morrissey (Red Riding) in the lead role.
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Lost
Questions will be answered when the world's most talked about TV show returns to Sky1 HD for its sixth and final season.
February 2010
Word on Lost's climatic chapter is scarce – even creator JJ Abrams is in the dark on the conclusion. It has, however, been confirmed that Emilie de Ravin's Claire, Dominic Monaghan's Charlie and Ian Somerhalder's Boone will all return.
Season five left audiences on tenterhooks with a flurry of revelations including disturbing news about Locke, the introduction of the enigmatic 'man in black' and Ben's killing of Jacob. Plus, Juliet detonated the bomb and potentially changed the islanders' fates. And alongside these new twists, mysteries from series past are begging to be resolved: what exactly is the island? And why were Jack, Kate, Sawyer and co 'selected' in the first place?
All will be revealed as Lost makes its final voyage. Expect the unexpected.
Check out new cast pics and relive the entire series so far in the Ultimate Lost Gallery!
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Chris Ryan's Strike Back
High-octane drama explodes onto Sky1 HD with an action-packed series based on the multi-million selling novel by former SAS man Chris Ryan.
Spring 2010
Starring Richard Armitage (Spooks, Robin Hood) and Andrew Lincoln (Teachers, This Life), Strike Back is a compelling story of betrayal, glory, redemption and revenge played out through the interlinking lives of two former soldiers: military hero Major Hugh Collinson (Lincoln) and discharged veteran John Porter (Armitage).
On the eve of the invasion of Iraq in 2003, Porter leads a Special Forces Unit on a daring hostage rescue mission into the heart of Basra, culminating in a disastrous turn of events for him and Collinson. Porter bares the burden of guilt, with the repercussions haunting him for years, until an opportunity presents itself to return to Iraq and redeem himself. After seven years apart, Porter and Collinson's lives are about to collide once again...
In three overlapping narratives based in Iraq, Zimbabwe and Afghanistan, played out over six episodes, the stories interweave the dramatic politics of war, with the personal demons of two very driven soldiers.
Shot in the stunning surroundings of South Africa, and filmed in incredible high definition, like all Sky1 original shows, Strike Back is set to wow audiences with effects of cinematic proportions, and an impressive international cast including Toby Stephens (Jane Eyre, Die Another Day), Ewen Bremner (Trainspotting), Jodhi May (The Amazing Mrs Pritchard), Dhaffer L'Abidine (The Mark Of Cain), Orla Brady (Mistresses) and Colin Salmon (Dr Who).
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Karl Pilkington's Seven Wonders of the World
Comedian and podcast star Karl Pilkington sets out to discover whether the Seven Wonders of the World are as wondrous as everyone says, in this silly but visually stunning travelogue.
Summer 2010.
Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant have set their best mate a challenge: to visit the world's most breathtaking sights, including the Taj Mahal, the Great Wall Of China and the Pyramids at Giza, and get a cultural education. The problem is, however, that Karl is a self-styled 'Lanzarote man', and try as he might, he doesn't really see what all the fuss is about.
From Brazil's Christ the Redeemer to Petra in Jordan, HD cameras will follow Karl on his beautiful global voyage. But can the sceptical sightseer become a latter-day Whicker? Anything's possible as he reports back to Gervais and Merchant with comic travel musings that swing between the ridiculous and the faintly insane.
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24
Award-winning real-time drama returns to Sky1 HD for an eighth day of blistering action.
January 2010
Adrenaline levels will soar as 24 begins its eighth series. Paying homage to its pioneering premiere season, Day 8 revolves around an assassination plot, with Kiefer Sutherland's Jack Bauer out to prevent the murder of a Middle Eastern leader, played by Slumdog Millionaire's Anil Kapoor.
CTU has been reconstructed in New York City and is headed up by Special Agent Brian Hastings (Mykelti Williamson). He is joined by Battlestar Galactica's Katee Sackhoff as Dana Walsh and her fiancee, Head of Field Operations, Cole Ortiz (Freddie Prinze Jr). Fan favourites Chloe O'Brien (Mary Lynn Rajskub) and Renee Walker (Annie Wersching) will return, with villainous ex-President Charles Logan (Gregory Itzin) set to make a comeback. Click here to view a gallery of pictures of all the new cast members!
Dripping with suspense and tension, Day 8 will be 24's most compelling season yet.
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Ross Kemp in the Middle East
Sky1 HD's BAFTA-winning team return with another unflinching documentary.
Starts 3rd January 2010
In January, Ross Kemp travels to the Middle East to examine the political situation in Israel and Gaza. Across two episodes, Ross gains unprecedented access to parties on all sides of the conflict, meeting some of the people behind the violence, and those caught in the crossfire.
Later in 2010, Ross heads to South America to investigate the pressures facing the Amazon regions of Brazil, Colombia, Peru and Ecuador. Ross Kemp: Amazon – The Fight For The Rainforest explores the area's legacy of devastation in the area created by a burgeoning global desire for energy, food and mineral resources. This series is a central piece in Sky's Rainforest Rescue tie-in with the WWF, the ambition of which is to save one billion trees in the Amazonian rainforest.
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The Simpsons and Modern Family
Thursday nights are all about comedy on Sky1 HD
January 2010
The Simpsons celebrates its 20th anniversary in January and to mark the milestone, Sky1 HD looks back at 20 years of what Time magazine called "The Best. TV Show. Ever." Three special programmes, each voiced by Ricky Gervais, examine the global impact of the series. The 21st season of the recordbreaking comedy also sees more A-listers make guest appearances in 2010, including Hollywood stars Seth Rogen, Jonah Hill and Anne Hathaway.
The Simpsons teams up with Modern Family to create an hour of unmissable comedy on Thursdays as part of Sky1 HD’s concerted push into developing this genre further. A critical and ratings success, Modern Family is a hilarious and heart-warming look at the quirks of family life. Described as "The smartest, funniest new American comedy for years," by Heat magazine, Modern Family is must-see TV.
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Football's Next Star
Jamie Redknapp presides over a life-changing competition as UK and Ireland's footballing prodigies compete for a contract with reigning Italian champions Inter Milan.
January 2010
Sky Sports pundit and former Liverpool and England star Jamie Redknapp is joined by a team of Inter's top coaches as thousands of 16 to 18-year-old footballers compete for the opportunity of a lifetime in a series of gruelling open trials. The best ten players will then travel to Italy to spend five weeks at Inter Milan's state-of-the-art training complex, Interello.
Once there, the finalists will work with some of Inter's biggest stars including Patrick Vieira, Javier Zanetti, Samuel Eto'o and Marco Materazzi. Throughout their journey, Jamie will mentor the boys, before Inter Milan's team of coaches and manager Jose Mourinho select Football's Next Star.
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Fat Families
British families are officially the fattest in Europe and straight-talking fat loss expert Steve Miller is on a mission to change this.
January 2010
Britain's Fat Families might blame their genes, but Steve will discover that it's not genetics that makes these people fat – it's bad habits and big portions. In his first TV series, ex-fat man Steve moves into the homes of supersize families and, armed with a range of shock tactics, helps the parents confront their plus size problem for the sake of their kids.
Turning their homes into 'houses of fitness', Steve will leave behind a new healthy regime as he departs. But a sprinkling of hidden high-tech gadgets means he'll be monitoring the families' every move. Fat Families is about tough talking and breaking cycles, as those who are too out-of-shape face reality, and the harm their size is doing to their loved ones.
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Best of the US
Sky1 HD remains the only destination for top-rating American series in 2010.
January-March 2010
A brand new drama hits screens in January in the shape of Caprica, the intelligent, immersive and sexy prequel to the Emmy-winning Battlestar Galactica. The critics' favourite reached its stunning conclusion in March 2009, and now producers Ronald D Moore and David Eick are taking viewers back 50 years before the Battlestar story began.
This much-anticipated series, starring Eric Stoltz (Pulp Fiction), depicts a time before the human/Cylon war and the events that led to the Cylon occupation. Sky1 HD favourites Stargate Universe, NCIS: Los Angeles, Fringe, Lie To Me and Bones all return in the New Year after mid-season hiatus. And this season, Bones celebrates its landmark 100th episode with an instalment directed by leading man David Boreanaz.
