Sky reveals seven comedy shorts for 2023
- Life's A Pitch, Diane From Accounts, Past Caring, Real Friends, Seen, Silo and Six Foot Something are coming to Sky Arts in 2023
- Stars include Desiree Burch, Rosie Jones, Jen Brister, Rachel Stubbings, Jessica Fostekew, Jordan Brookes, Kiell Smith-Bynoe and Sunil Patel
Sky has announced seven new comedy shorts, to be broadcast on Sky Arts and published on YouTube in 2023.
The shorts are:
Life's A Pitch
A neurotic, self-destructive copywriter goes to increasingly idiotic extremes to save face and keep up appearances as his work life spirals out of control.
Written by Nathan D'Arcy Roberts, the episode stars Jordan Stephens (pictured), Aurie Styla, Alex Theo, Shazia Mirza and Ruairi McInerney.
Diane From Accounts
A charity worker who has always been hardworking, dependable but ultimately invisible, makes one fateful decision that turns her life upside down. "Who knew being bad could be so good!"
Written by Desiree Burch and Jayshree Patel, the episode stars Desiree Burch in the lead role.
Past Caring
Three very different women - Rosie, Jen and Maureen - share one similarity: they are all carers. We join these women on one of their few nights off, where they come together for some time away from their duties, which invariably involves Rosie trying, and failing, to flirt with a 'fit girl'. However, can they ever really separate themselves from being carers?
Written by and starring Rosie Jones and Jen Brister, the episode also features Maureen Younger alongside Leslie Ash.
Real Friends
Cassie and Mr Whippy have grown up together; they've sat in detention together, suffered puberty together, been bullied together and are soon to be unemployed together. Only snag is, one of them is real and the other is not. And now Mr Whippy, for her own survival, is fighting to remain relevant in Cassie's life when she meets a ... man.
This mix of animation and live action comedy is written by and stars Rachel Stubbings and Jessica Fostekew. Additional cast includes Daniel Lawrence Taylor, Luke McQueen and Alison Spittle.
Seen
Pilot created by and starring Jordan Brookes.
Dating is never easy but for Jordan, it leaves him a warbling mass of uncertainties. A clueless newborn in the body of a young man. This 'existential Mr. Bean' sees Jordan attempt to calm himself, which leads to a spiral of anxiety dreams from visions of cattle slaughter to a flashback of his ex- girlfriend half joking that she can't imagine him having parents. For Jordan, it's hard to know which vision is worse.
Additional cast includes Nimisha Odedra and Kieran Hodgson.
Silo
Two very different Londoners, Marcus and Dipesh, suddenly find themselves in rural Norfolk, the last place their missing business partner and brother-in-law's phone was active. Drenched in urban arrogance, they find rural life to be nowhere near as idyllic and time-warped as Countryfile would have you believe.
Written by Tom Neenan, Kiell Smith-Bynoe and Sunil Patel, the episode stars Smith-Bynoe and Patel, with additional cast including Neenan, Sarah Hadland and Mark Heap.
Six Foot Something
Pilot created by Yemi Oyefuwa.
Meet Folake, 6ft 5, fabulous and loving it while playing professional basketball in the states... but less so now, as due to injury, she's been sent back home to London. Folake finds that without basketball she's just... tall... and broke. In many ways it's like being a celebrity without any of the perks. Meanwhile her DMs are full of men who have a tall girl fetish and are willing to pay to just be in her presence and some who want a little bit more, so, maybe it's time to make some money - as long as no one finds out?
This new batch of shorts follows on from previous years' creations. Forthcoming sitcom Dreamland and paramedic comedy Bloods have previously been commissioned from the strand.
Jon Mountague from Sky Studios says: "Sky's comedy shorts programme is testament to the huge writing and performance talent in the UK and it's incredibly fulfilling to see past shorts transfer to full series. Our new comedy shorts season will aim to bring new diverse voices to Sky and I'm looking forward to unearthing the next Dreamland or Bloods - and beyond."