TX Thursday 26th April at 9pm on Sky Arts
Johnny Cash and the Ostrich, written by and starring award-winning comic Frank Skinner as Johnny, and co-starring Isy Suttie as Jean, is a one-off special forming part of the successful Urban Myths series airing on Sky Arts this April. The show unravels the unexpected story behind Johnny Cash and the carnage wrought by a killer ostrich.
It’s November, 1983. Jean, a hotel manageress in Nottingham, arrives at work to find there’s trouble in room 211, currently occupied by country music legend, Johnny Cash. Eventually persuading him to let her in, they sit amongst the carnage and Cash explains that he has been visited by Waldo, the killer ostrich. In a series of flashbacks, Cash tells Jean how the ostrich attacked him at his theme park, home, The House of Cash in Tennessee, back in ’81 and how that set him on a path of pain-killer addiction and reckless drinking. Now Waldo has turned up in the East Midlands and is aching for revenge.
Johnny Cash and the Ostrich forms part of a new season of mischievous comedies about bizarre tales from the worlds of Hollywood, music, arts and literature which are all fictionalised accounts of mostly true events.
An Avalon production, the series is directed by Al Campbell and produced by Lay-Ee Quah. Executive producers are Richard Allen-Turner and Jon Thoday.
Johnny Cash and the Ostrich TXs on Thursday 26th April at 9pm on Sky Arts and available on demand from 12th April
For more information contact:
Lucy Plosker at Avalon: 0207 598 7222 / lplosker@avalon-entertainment.com
Notes to Editors:
About Sky Arts Urban Myths
Sky Arts successful series Urban Myths returns to our screens in April 2018 with a new season of mischievous comedies about bizarre tales from the worlds of Hollywood, music, arts and literature which are all fictionalised accounts of mostly true events.
Among the four new episodes of Urban Myths announced today, we can expect to unravel the mysterious disappearance of Agatha Christie in 1926 and the biggest ever manhunt staged in Britain at that time; go behind the scenes on the set of the iconic film ‘Some Like it Hot;’ go backstage at Live Aid and sympathise with Johnny Cash and the carnage wrought by a killer ostrich.
These will join the four episodes already announced – revisiting TV presenter Bill Grundy on the ill-fated day when he met the Sex Pistols; fathoming the creative drug fuelled pairing of Salvador Dali and Alice Cooper; taking a peek at David Bowie and Marc Bolan in their decorator overalls and eavesdropping on an unexpected car-share with Public Enemy.
Gemma Arterton, Adam Brody, Adrian Edmondson, Noel Fielding, Sheila Hancock, Bill Paterson, Alex Pettyfer, Frank Skinner, Dougray Scott, David Suchet, Luke Treadaway and Jack Whitehall are just some of the well known names starring in Urban Myths. The series also features members from the National Youth Theatre performing alongside established actors such as Daniel Mays, Steve Pemberton and Kayvan Novak.
Each of the eight episodes takes an inventive look at remarkable events, which are re-imagined with tongue firmly in cheek by some of Britain’s most talented writers and directors. A third series of Urban Myths is already in the works featuring a new line up of comedies which will be announced later this year.
Phil Edgar-Jones, Director of Sky Arts, says: “We are thrilled to be bringing Urban Myths back to Sky Arts in April 2018. With the first season we knew we’d hit comedy gold, mining the madcap worlds of urban folklore and once again viewers will get to see some of Britain’s most talented actors, writers and directors bring a selection of terrific tales, mostly true, to life. The episodes will be airing weekly on Sky Arts, but will also all be available on demand, perfect for binge-watching!”
About Avalon:
Avalon is a multi-award winning talent management, live promotion and television production group with offices in the UK and the USA.
Avalon and ARG, the talent management arms of the business, have discovered and represent many artists which are household names, in the UK, the USA, and around the world.
In 2017 Avalon was named the number one true independent television production company in the UK and has produced numerous ground-breaking television shows including: Emmy and Peabody award winner Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO), multi-award winning and Emmy-nominated Catastrophe (Channel 4/Amazon Prime), RTS and Rose d’Or winning Not Going Out (the BBC’s longest running sitcom currently on air), BAFTA and RTS-nominated Taskmaster (Dave/UKTV), multi-BAFTA award winning TV Burp (ITV1), Russell Howard’s Good News (BBC2), Fantasy Football League (BBC/ITV) and Workaholics (Comedy Central USA).
Avalon and Topical Television form the television arm of the company and other shows currently in production include: Taskmaster USA (Comedy Central), Man Down (C4), Dave Gorman’s Modern Life is Goodish (Dave/UKTV), The Chris Ramsey Show (Comedy Central), Chris Ramsey’s Stand Up Central (Comedy Central); whilst the catalogue is sold worldwide by Avalon Distribution.
Avalon produced Newman and Baddiel: Live at Wembley, the UK’s first arena comedy show; Jerry Springer: The Opera, the first West End show to win all four UK ‘Best New Musical’ awards; and has continued to produce live shows globally, as well as promoting more winners and nominees of the prestigious Edinburgh Comedy Award than any other company.
For Avalon news visit: www.avalon-entertainment.com or @avalonent.
