Martin Freeman & Daisy Haggard To Star In ‘Breeders’ For Sky One
Martin Freeman and Daisy Haggard have teamed up to star in new comedy series ‘Breeders‘ from Freeman, ‘Veep’s Simon Blackwell and Chris Addison it has been announced.
The 10-part series, which isa co-production from Sky and FX Productions, will expose the paradox of parenting that it is possible, in the same moment, to love your child to the horizon of the universe, while being apoplectically angry enough to want to send them there. Martin Freeman stars as a caring father discovering he’s not quite the man he thought he was.
“I’m excited to be making Breeders with a team that can make me laugh while we look at some of the less-discussed truths and challenges of being a parent,” comments Freeman. “I really love this project and am delighted to be working with FX and Sky.”
The show, which will be produced by Avalon Television, was originally piloted for the BBC & FX back in March, but it would appear the Beeb bowed out and Sky stepped in. The series Breeders has been created by Academy Award-nominee and double Emmy Award-winner Simon Blackwell (‘Veep’, ‘Back’, ‘Peep Show’), double Emmy Award and Directors Guild of America-winner Chris Addison (‘Veep’, ‘The Thick of It’, ‘The Hustle’) and Emmy and Bafta-winning Martin Freeman (‘Fargo’, ‘Sherlock’, ‘Black Panther’, ‘The Hobbit’, ‘Fargo’). Freeman stars in the comedy alongside the brilliant Daisy Haggard (‘Hang Ups’, ‘Episodes’, ‘Uncle’).
“Imagine a parent gazing lovingly into the eyes of their newborn – that’s how proud we at Sky are with Breeders. Brilliant scripts which see parenting through such an authentic and hilarious lens. Martin, Chris and Simon are an unstoppable comic force, but I can’t vouch for them as parents,” adds Sky’s head of comedy, Jon Mountague. “Together they’re bringing the kind of premium quality comedy our customers have come to expect. We can’t wait to show the world our new baby.”
Blackwell, Addison, Freeman and Michael Wiggs will exec produce along with Richard Allen-Turner, Rob Aslett, and Jon Thoday for Avalon Television (‘Last Week Tonight With John Oliver’, ‘Catastrophe’, ‘The Russell Howard Hour’). The series was commissioned by Zai Bennett, director of programmes, and Jon Mountague, with Josh Cole set to be the commissioning editor. Nick Grad and Eric Schrier, Presidents of Original Programming commissioned the series for FX Networks and FX Productions.
“It’s a treat to be cooking up stuff with my old comrade Simon Blackwell and the peerless Martin Freeman,” said Addison. “We’re very excited that FX and Sky have agreed to finance what is effectively us working through some of our own issues in the form of ten half-hour sitcom episodes. Usually, you have to pay for your own therapy.”
‘Breeders‘ will air on Sky One and streaming service NOW TV in 2020.
