Sky today announced five new Sky Original documentaries that reinforce its commitment to provide customers with a destination for premium factual content. The slate of five new documentaries builds on a successful first year for Sky Documentaries since its launch in 2020 and has seen shows including critically acclaimed Sky Originals such as TINA, Bruno v Tyson and Exterminate All the Brutes and acquired documentaries including Framing Britney Spears and McMillion$ attract record-breaking audiences to the channel. The newly commissioned feature length documentaries and series include an incisive look at the life of Mother Teresa which reveals the extraordinary truth about one of the most recognised yet enigmatic figures in contemporary history, alongside the under-reported story of the rise and fall of Michael X, a revolutionary once heralded as the UK's answer to Malcom X.
Two powerful stories about women making history in their respective sporting fields include Queen of Speed, which chronicles French rally driver Mich le Mouton's battle to rise to the top of the male-dominated world of rallying in the 70s and 80s. Right to Fight tells the untold story of several female boxers who pioneered women's boxing and defied sexism and racism for their place in the ring in 70s New York.
The Scream will unravel one of the most remarkable art heists in recent history which saw Edward Munch's iconic 1893 painting The Scream stolen during the 1994 Winter Olympics in Norway.
Sky's Director of Documentaries and Factual, Poppy Dixon, said: In its first year, Sky Documentaries has seen stellar performances for films and series that cement the channel as the home of world-class and diverse real-life stories that span the globe. These five new titles join an incredible slate of content and reflect the scale, quality and ambition of the channel.
Sky Documentaries is the home of world-class, real life stories from award-winning and emerging film makers, including new Sky Original documentaries, as well as acquisitions from HBO, SHOWTIME and beyond. With a mix of feature length documentaries and limited series that challenge, provoke and entertain, the channel explores a broad range of topics from sport and real-world controversies through to biographies of some of the world's most famous and infamous people.
The five new Sky Original commissions join a raft of factual programming coming to Sky Documentaries including a forensic look at newly discovered footage from the Chernobyl disaster in Chernobyl 86, a 90-minute feature documentary chronicling the life biography of world-famous cosmologist Stephen Hawking in Hawking: Can You Hear Me? and a definitive and ultimately uplifting story at Britain's 40-year struggle with HIV/AIDS in Positive.
The new shows are currently either in pre-production or production and will air in late 2021 or throughout 2022.
Show information and credits:
Biographical Documentaries
Mother Teresa: For the Love of God? (3x60 )
Sky Documentaries and streaming service NOW. A Sky Original documentary produced by Minnow Films in association with Sky Studios.
Over three episodes, Mother Teresa: For the Love of God? takes viewers on a remarkable ride through the twists and turns of an improbable life, revealing the extraordinary truth about one of the most recognised yet enigmatic, controversial, and complex figures in contemporary history.
Told through the multiple viewpoints from those who knew her best and drawing on archive and personal letters where we hear from Mother Teresa in her own words, this series tells the astonishing story of a latter-day Saint.
Directed by Benedict Sanderson and Ziyaad Desai, Executive Produced by Sophie Leonard and Sophie Jones and Produced by Dearbhalie Flynn.
Mother Teresa: For the Love of God? is a Sky Original documentary produced by Minnow Films in association with Sky Studios and commissioned by Zai Bennett, Sky's Managing Director of Content and Poppy Dixon, Director of Documentaries and Factual.
The Three Lives of Michael X w/t (1x90 )
Sky Documentaries and streaming service NOW. A Sky Original documentary produced by BBC Studios in association with Sky Studios.
TX: October 2021
This is the untold story of the rise and fall of Michael X otherwise known as Michael De Freitas or Michael Abdul Malik - a man once heralded as the UK's answer to Malcolm X who spent the end of his days on death row, and eventually executed by signed order of the Queen.
The feature length documentary directed by James Van der pool (The Surgeon's Cut, Britain's Forgotten Slave Owners, Black and British) will provide a chance to re-evaluate this divisive historical figure, a man who lived multiple lives in one lifetime and knew everyone - from Muhammad Ali to William Burroughs, Malcom X to John Lennon - but few today have heard of him.
This intimate portrait of Michael's life and times will explore a defining period of modern British history. Reflecting all sides of the story - with insider testimony from those who knew him, unseen archive and dramatic reconstruction - the audience will be taken from Michael's childhood in Trinidad, to the genesis of the British Black Power Movement and the intoxicating days of counterculture and Notting Hill Carnival, before returning to the Caribbean where Michael was tried and convicted of murder.
The Three Lives of Michael X is a Sky Original documentary produced by BBC Studios' Documentary Unit in association with Sky Studios and commissioned for Sky by Zai Bennett, Sky's Managing Director of Content and Poppy Dixon, Director of Documentaries and Factual.
Sports Documentaries
Queen of Speed (1x90 )
Sky Documentaries and streaming service NOW. A Sky Original documentary produced by Drum Studios in association with Sky Studios.
Queen of Sp
