Sky has unveiled one of its biggest factual slates yet, greenlighting six shows including documentaries on the assassination of Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme and the Italian 1990 football World Cup, and a royal factual drama told through the eyes of Queen Victoria’s granddaughters.
The shows will air across Sky Documentaries, Sky Crime, Sky Nature and Sky History over the next year and come as the Comcast-owned pay-TV giant prepares for a swanky London do tomorrow night, at which they will be presented.
Leading the slate is The Assassination of Olof Palme, a thriller-esque four-part series set in the Scandi Noir world of Cold War Sweden when the Prime Minister was shot in 1986 on the snowy streets of Stockholm. What followed was a 36-year search for the killer, which consumed many including the late Girl With the Dragon Tattoo author Stieg Larsson.
Next is three-parter Italia’ 90 as Sky doubles down on sports docs, with this one featuring greats including Paul Gascoigne and Lothar Matthäus telling the story of the World Cup that changed football, just as the Iron Curtain fell.
On Sky History is Will Smith’s Welcome to Earth producer Nutopia’s The Royal Mob, a factual drama told through the eyes of the Hesse sisters, Queen Victoria’s granddaughters, about the mob-like extended royal family that once ruled the whole of Europe.
The slate is completed by The Essex Murders (working title), about the shooting of the notorious Essex Boys drugs gang, Libby Are You Home Yet?, telling of a 21-year-old student who was abducted and murdered walking home from a club, and environmental show Arctic From Above With Liz Bonnin.
“These new additions display the extraordinary breadth of content across our factual portfolio,” said Poppy Dixon, Sky’s Director of Documentaries and Factual.
Dixon added to her team last week, signing Three Identical Strangers exec Tom Barry and MetFilm Sales boss Vesna Cudic.
