Yonderland to return for a second series
Yonderland, the fantasy comedy series written by and starring the cast of Horrible Histories, is to return for a second series.
Sky1 announced this morning that it had ordered another full series, with Mathew Baynton, Simon Farnaby, Martha Howe-Douglas, Jim Howick, Laurence Rickard and Ben Willbond all due to return.
Yonderland - which launched in November 2013 to strong ratings, good audience feedback and positive press reviews - follows the adventures of bored housewife Debbie Maddox who unexpectedly finds herself teleported to an extraordinary world inhabited by a collection of eccentric characters. She is deemed to be 'The Special One' - the world's unlikely saviour - and thus must juggle her home life with battling the evil Negatus and his sidekicks.
All the characters in Yonderland are played by the cast, plus notably distinctive puppets created by renowned workshop Baker Coogan.
The first series ended with Debbie rescuing Elf and Nick the Stick from try-hard overlord Negatus' lair and come face to face for the first time with his boss, the evil Imperatrix. The new series will see Debbie fighting an increasingly hard battle to keep her family life and her job as world saver separate.
The new episodes will see the paranoia of her husband Peter (Dan Skinner) grow, whilst Imperatrix intensifies her efforts to rid the realm of the final obstacle to total domination: 'Debbie of Maddox'. And all this while Debbie is being endlessly called upon by the Council of Elders to help them with tasks that reach well beyond her Chosen One remit.
Adam MacDonald, Director of Sky 1, says: "We are incredibly proud to be able to bring Yonderland back for a second joyful series. The show epitomises Sky 1 - it is a brilliantly creative, cheeky, laugh-out-loud show that the whole family can relish".
Lucy Lumsden, Sky's Head of Comedy, adds: "We're delighted to be able to reunite the multi-talented Yonderland team for another series. Many more magical treats of silliness await".
Juliette Howell from production company Working Title comments: "It's fantastic to be returning to Yonderland with our wonderfully creative, funny and talented team. It has been such a treat revisiting our favourite characters and seeing new ones emerge. We can't wait for the audience to have a chance to enjoy them as well."
The cast of Yonderland have recently finished filming Bill, a new comedy film based on the life of William Shakespeare. The movie will be in cinemas early next year.
Series 2 of Yonderland will be filmed this autumn, for screening on Sky1 in 2015.
Below is one of the trailers used to promote the first series:
And here is a clip from one of the episodes: