LONDON, May 27, 2021 – Sky original Breeders, the honest and uncompromising comedy about the challenges of parenthood, has been renewed for a third series. Starring Emmy and BAFTA-winning Martin Freeman (Fargo, Sherlock, Black Panther) and International Emmy and BAFTA-nominated Daisy Haggard (Back to Life, Episodes, Black Mirror), the renewal coincides with the launch of the second series on Sky One and streaming service NOW on Thursday 27 May. All ten episodes will be available on demand.
Breeders is produced by Avalon (Starstruck, The Russell Howard Hour, Spitting Image, Taskmaster) and FX Productions for FX Networks and Sky Originals. With widespread critical acclaim for the first series, Daisy Haggard has been nominated for this year’s British Academy Television Award, Female Performance in a Comedy Programme, for her role as Ally.
The new series will continue to follow the relationship of parents Paul (Freeman) and Ally (Haggard) Worsley as they navigate the multitude of life challenges thrown at them by their children Luke and Ava, as well as their parents; Jackie (Joanna Bacon), Jim (Alun Armstrong) and Leah (Stella Gonet).
Jon Mountague, Director of Comedy, Sky Studios, said: “What a thrill to see the return of Breeders. Martin Freeman, Simon Blackwell and Chris Addison’s brilliant season 2 definitely smells like teen spirit. Martin and Daisy Haggard are rapidly becoming the UK’s most relatable and funniest parents & they’ve certainly left our audience wanting more. So, it’s with great joy to be able to spread the news of a third series before the birth of the second!”
Martin Freeman commented: “I’m very happy to get to do another series of the show. We’re delighted that Sky is with us in spending time with the Worsleys, and hopefully let the audience see that, once again, no, they’re not alone”
Simon Blackwell added: “Delighted that we’ve got three seasons. One more and it’s a pizza. This is such a superb team to work with, and it’s a pleasure and a privilege to make the show. I can’t wait to see what terrible and brilliant but let’s face it mainly terrible things will happen to the Worsley family in the next 10 episodes.”
Daisy Haggard said: “I’m so excited to get to tell another chapter of this story. It’s such a privilege to be in such fine company and such masterful hands!!”
Chris Addison said: “Apart from the sheer joy of working with this incredible team, very little gives us more pleasure than putting Paul and Ally through the wringer, so we’re thrilled that Sky have decided to give us this shiny new third wringer to put them through. I’m intrigued to see what shape they come out the other side.”
Jon Thoday, Executive Producer at Avalon, said: “We’re delighted with Sky’s commitment to Breeders, whose support for this exciting show has been excellent”
The new third series of Breeders will be produced by Avalon and FX Productions for FX Networks and Sky Originals. Academy Award®-nominee and double Emmy® Award-winner Simon Blackwell (Veep, Peep Show, The Personal History of David Copperfield, Back) is showrunner. Breeders is created by Blackwell, double Emmy Award and Directors Guild of America Award winner Chris Addison (Veep, The Thick of It, The Hustle) and Emmy and BAFTA®-winning Martin Freeman (Fargo, Sherlock, Black Panther, Captain America: Civil War, The Hobbit), who also stars alongside Daisy Haggard (Back to Life, Episodes, Black Mirror). Executive producers are Blackwell, Addison, Freeman, Richard Allen-Turner, Rob Aslett, David Martin, Jon Thoday, Toby Welch (Catastrophe, The Tunnel, Skins) and Michael Wiggs. Tilusha Ghelani, Sky commissioning editor, is the executive producer for Sky. Ben Palmer is co-executive producer.
Breeders forms part of a run of original comedies launching on Sky One with audiences of more than one million – including Bloods (Samson Kayo, Jane Horrocks), Brassic (Joe Gilgun, Michelle Keegan), Intelligence (Nick Mohammed and David Schwimmer), Hitmen (Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins) and Code 404 (Daniel Mays, Stephen Graham and Anna Maxwell Martin).
For more information please contact:
Sky: Dom Collett
Avalon: Victoria Wedderburn
Avalon: Dan Lloyd
Note To Editors:
UK Press Quotes on the previous series of Breeders
“beyond comedy and towards something rare…Writers Simon Blackwell, Chris Addison and Freeman himself have given us not only a couple we can honestly believe in but also a drama for modern times”
Euan Ferguson, The Observer
“terrific: dark, fresh, brutal, funny…Simon Blackwell and Chris Addison have managed the near-impossible by creating a parenting comedy that is not twee and makes the tired tropes of sleep deprivation and school-catchment obsession funny.” ★★★★
Carol Midgley, The Times
“For Breeders to deal with darker topics, including postnatal depression and what Blackwell calls “grief sex”, it adopts the knife-edge tone that defines the best modern TV comedy: able to nest real, wrenching drama into outlandish scenarios and vice versa, rather than offering viewers a predictable series of set-ups and positive punchlines”
Tom Faber, Financial Times
“Martin Freeman and Daisy Haggard excel in parenting sitcom with bite…Smart, spiky and hilarious” ★★★★
Morgan Jeffery, Radio Times
“crafted to perfection, Blackwell supplies a steady stream of laugh-out-loud lines and Freeman and Haggard immediately gel as a finely tuned double act playing off each other with exquisite timing” ★★★★
Mark Wareham, Mail On Sunday
“The parent-torment sitcom Breeders, now on episode three, ‘No Accident’, is beginning to emulsify nicely…Breeders whizzes by, all zingers and howlers.” ★★★★
David Sexton, Evening Standard
“Refreshingly truthful parenting comedy” ★★★★
Ian Hyland, The Mirror
“a hilariously no-holds-barred look at the real challenges of parenting in the contemporary world…a brilliantly shocking opening that sets the tone for a show, which is beautifully observed and very funny” ★★★★★
Boyd Hilton, Heat Magazine
“honest and uncompromising comedy pulling no punches as it explores the pressures of raising a family. Millions of mums and dads across Britain will sympathise…prepare for laughs, tears and plenty of swearing” ★★★★
Sean Marland, TV Times Magazine
“Martin Freeman and Daisy Haggard impress in Sky’s parental sitcom…their tight-knit, witty bitching about rival, “perfect ” schoolgate parents is a delight that never flags… a triumph”
Euan Ferguson, The Observer
“a corker of an introduction…uncompromising but hilarious” ★★★★★
Mike Ward, Daily Star
“last week’s opening double-bill was full of wonderful lines and hilarious situations. In short, it was everything you want from such a show” ★★★★
Daily Star Sunday
“Freeman and Daisy Haggard, who plays Paul’s wife, Ally, are excellent as the couple whose united front cracks as sleep deprivation kicks in.”
Victoria Segal, The Sunday Times
“When the great corona-shutdown kicks in, the Breeders crew might find they’ve made the most accidentally zeitgeisty programme of all time”
Victoria Coren Mitchell, The Telegraph
“an unforgivingly accurate depiction of the lesser-spotted aspects of raising kids that will have most parents wincing in recognition… funny, seldom comfortable and worryingly relatable”
Gabriel Tate, The Telegraph
“No-holds-barred ferocity…the show is fearless”
James Jackson, The Times
“Tune in to for Freeman on top form as the wry and exasperated Paul”
Ammar Kalie, The Guardian and The Observer
“Here’s the mother – and father – of all comedies for any parents who’ve endured sleepless nights while bringing up young children…thick with laughs”
Deborah Ross, Mail On Sunday
“How many comedies are honest about what being a parent of young children entails? Maybe Motherland broke the mould, but Breeders takes it to another level… painfully funny”
David Butcher, Radio Times
“Welcome to the set of Breeders, a new show that takes the best ingredients of Motherland and Outnumbered – middle-class dramas about parenting – and adds a large dose of the sheer fury that it can induce…Bitingly funny”
Nicole Lampert, Daily Mail
“Doesn’t pull any punches…it’s genuinely laugh-out-loud funny”
Kate Noble, The Sun
“Dark, honest and made all the more human by the welcome chaos of being a parent. It could be a scene from Breeders”
Guy Kelly, The Telegraph
About Sky
Sky is Europe’s leading media and entertainment company and is proud to be part of the Comcast group. Across six countries, we connect our 24 million customers to the best entertainment, sports, news, arts and to our own award-winning original content.
Our technology, including the market leading Sky Q, connects people to everything they love – with entertainment from Sky TV, Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime Video and BBC iPlayer, and apps like Spotify, YouTube, BBC Sounds, Highbrow, Fiit, and more, in one place, easy. Our streaming service, NOW, brings viewers all the enjoyment of Sky with the flexibility of a contract-free service.
Building on the success of Sky Originals like Chernobyl, Bulletproof and Brassic, we are doubling our investment in original content by 2024 through Sky Studios. Sky News provides impartial and trustworthy journalism for free, while Sky Arts, the UK’s only dedicated free-to-air arts channel, makes the arts accessible for everyone. Our new TV and movie studio, Sky Studios Elstree, which will open in 2022, is expected to create over 2,000 new jobs and generate an additional £3 billion of production investment in the UK over the first five years.
We believe that we can be a force for good in the communities in which we operate. We’re committed to being Europe’s first net zero carbon entertainment company by 2030 and we’re proud to be a Principal Partner and Media Partner of COP26. We take pride in our approach to diversity and inclusion: we’ve been recognised by The Times and Stonewall for our commitment to diversity and we’ve set ambitious 2025 targets to continue to increase diversity and representation. We’re also committed to investing £30million across our markets over three years to improve our approach to diversity and inclusion, and to tackle racial injustice.
About NOW
NOW is a leading UK streaming service, giving you the best TV, box sets, movies, sports and kids entertainment whenever, and wherever, you want it. Pick from the range of content passes including Entertainment, Sky Cinema, Sky Sports, Kids and reality TV with hayu.
You can stream content to watch through the NOW app, available on over 60 devices including the NOW Smart Stick and Smart Box and even download your favourite shows and movies to watch on the go.
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About Avalon
Avalon is a multi-award-winning talent management, television production and live promotion group with offices in London, Los Angeles and New York.
Avalon, Artist Rights Group (ARG) and The Agency represent a prolific roster of artists including comedians, actors, presenters, writers and directors. Avalon’s numerous ground-breaking returning television shows currently in production include: Not Going Out (BBC), the UK’s longest running sitcom on air; Taskmaster (Channel 4), the BAFTA-winning hit entertainment format showing in 100 countries; multi Emmy-winner, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO); The Russell Howard Hour (Sky), the network’s most successful entertainment show launch since 2010; Starstruck, a new sitcom from the 2018 Edinburgh Comedy Award winner Rose Matafeo (HBO Max/BBC); Everything’s Gonna Be Okay, from creator Josh Thomas (Freeform/Hulu); Breeders, a sitcom starring Martin Freeman and Daisy Haggard (FX/Sky); the iconic British satirical puppet show, Spitting Image (BritBox UK); and multiple comedy specials for Amazon Prime Video, HBO Max and Netflix.
Other landmark Avalon shows include BAFTA winning and multi Emmy nominated Catastrophe (Amazon Prime Video/Channel 4), Fantasy Football League (BBC/ITV), multi BAFTA-winning TV Burp (ITV), and Workaholics (Comedy Central USA). Avalon also distributes its catalogue of programmes to over 150 countries worldwide. Avalon has produced many globally successful podcasts and is at the top of the UK iTunes chart with the multi-award-winning Shagged. Married. Annoyed by Chris and Rosie Ramsey.
As a leading promoter of live comedy, 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 and promote 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.avalonuk.com/press or follow @avalonent
