Queens of PR return for second series of Flack on W

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  • Anna Paquin, Sophie Okonedo, Lydia Wilson and Rebecca Benson reunite for UKTV Original drama
  • Sam Neill and Daniel Dae Kim join cast
  • Guest stars include Jane Horrocks, Giles Terera and Amanda Abbington

Second series of the hit UKTV Original, co-commissioned with Pop and made by Hat Trick Productions and CASM

"Off the chart brilliant" Mike Bradley, The Observer

"A terrific and bittersweet comedy from Oliver Lansley, it's in turns woefully tender and snort-funny. You'll be blowing tea down your nose. Simply brilliant." The Guardian

"Series creator, Oliver Lansley, had a note perfect cast to bring his sizzling dialogue to life" The Times

"The Devil Wears PR...older, more sinister, streetwise sister to Ab Fab" Grazia

"Mix The Good Wife with a dash of Catastrophe" Guardian Guide

LONDON

Friday 2nd August 2019:

Following the critically-acclaimed success of series one, UKTV is bringing back Flack (6x60') for its premium entertainment channel W. The series, described by Metro as a "major coup for W", is co-commissioned with US network Pop and produced by Hat Trick Productions with Anna Paquin's production company CASM.

Flack, set in London, revolves around the world of high-stakes celebrity PR. The series will see the return of Academy Award winning, Golden Globe winning and Emmy(R)-nominated actress Anna Paquin (True Blood, The Affair) as celebrity PR Robyn, with Olivier and Academy Award nominated Sophie Okonedo CBE (Wanderlust, Chimerica) as PR boss Caroline, Lydia Wilson (About Time, Requiem) as Eve, and Rebecca Benson (Game of Thrones, The White Princess) as Melody. Genevieve Angelson will also return as Robyn's sister Ruth, alongside Rufus Jones and Arinze Kene.

Golden Globe and Emmy-nominated actor Sam Neill will reunite with Paquin, his The Piano co-star, when he joins the cast for a multi-episode arc as Duncan, who has a very complicated relationship with PR agency boss, Caroline. In addition, Screen Actors Guild Award winner Daniel Dae Kim (Stowaway, Always Be My Maybe) will also star this season as Scott Cole, a tech titan who begins a romance with someone at the firm. Other season two guest stars include Jane Horrocks, Giles Terera and Amanda Abbington, reprising her role as Alexa.

Executive producer and star Anna Paquin said:

One of the most exciting pieces of feedback I received after the season finale of Flack was people begging for more episodes, so they could continue to ride the intensely exciting rollercoaster of our show and find out what the future had in store for our characters. And it is with such joy and pride that I can confirm we are in fact about to start production on season two. Many questions were left unanswered, shocking plot twists were dropped into our viewers' laps, and this season I can promise even more of the darkly comedic client dramas, as well as fascinating insight into the tumultuous personal lives of our exceptional ensemble of badass women.

Series one left viewers in the grizzly aftermath of a Premier League footballer's wedding, Robyn's work and home lives having collided catastrophically when she could no longer resist the temptations of her myriad of addictions. She did manage to save Melody from the clutches of a group of dangerously 'friendly' footballers before firing her as the PR intern (for her own good) but closer relationships proved to be damaged beyond repair, and having been rejected by her sister and normal 'last port in a storm' Ruth, Robyn finally realised that she'd run out of road.

Will Eve ever forgive Robyn, and on a broader scale, with Melody frozen out, will Mills Paulson PR ever be the same again? Caroline has bigger fish to fry in a shakeup that could change her business forever. Throughout all this the team continue to try their best to keep the outrageous indiscretions of their celebrity clients firmly behind closed doors.

The UKTV Original series has been ordered by Richard Watsham, UKTV's director of commissioning and Steve North, genre general manager for entertainment and comedy. Flack is commissioned by Pete Thornton, UKTV head of scripted who will also oversee as executive producer for UKTV. Flack written by Oliver Lansley, is produced by Debs Pisani (Back to Life, Episodes) and executive produced by Jimmy Mulville and Helen Williams of Hat Trick Productions. Anna Paquin will also executive produce for CASM alongside Stephen Moyer, Cerise Hallam Larkin and Mark Larkin with Justin Rosenblatt for Pop. The series will be directed by Alicia MacDonald, Oliver Lansley and Stephen Moyer, with more casting news to follow in coming months.

Pete Thornton said:

The first series of Flack exceeded all our creative expectations and we couldn't have been prouder to have it on our network. Oli Lansley's writing attracted a frankly astonishing cast to W's first ever homegrown drama (all of whom we are delighted to be welcoming back for series two), and we can't wait to see what this extraordinary quartet of female characters get up to in this, their further adventures with UKTV.

Adam Collings, channel director for W added:

I was over the moon with the reaction to our first drama on W and so pleased we can bring it back and delve deeper into the world of Mills Paulson PR with this amazing cast. I can't wait to see where Oliver takes Flack in series two.

Series one was nominated for two Broadcast Digital Awards this year, for Gamechanger Programme and Best Drama. Flack series two will air in 2020 on W in the UK and Pop in the US. Catch up on the full boxset now on Sky and Virgin.

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For more information please contact:
Gem Pinkney, Publicity Manager for UKTV
Ben Duncan, Publicist for UKTV

Pop Press Contacts:
Hillary Povar hillary.povar@poptv.com

About W

Sky 109/245, Virgin 124/191, BT 311 & TalkTalk 407 / On demand on Sky and Virgin

W is UKTV's premium entertainment channel, offering audiences a dazzling mix of UKTV Original series with some of the UK's most-loved talent in front and behind the camera.

Part of the W family, Emma Willis trains as a maternity care assistant in Emma Willis: Delivering Babies, while Emily Atack asks herself some big questions in Emily Atack: Adulting and Stacey Dooley spends some time with extraordinary families in Stacey Dooley: Sleeps Over. For its first foray into scripted original series, W welcomed Lorna Martin's Women on the Verge and celebrity PR drama Flack, starring Academy award winner Anna Paquin.

W will also delve into the world of babies and weddings with My Famous Babysitter and The Wedding Fixer later this year, while channel favourite Inside The Ambulance continues shine a light on paramedics across the UK. Inside the Operating Theatre takes that relationship further getting to the heart of the surgeons saving lives inside the hospital. Debut series Ski A&E will look at the heroic actions of emergency ski services. And finally, W's hit acquisitions MasterChef Australia, MasterChef USA and MasterChef USA Juniors round out the offering.

About UKTV

UKTV has been at the forefront of branded television for over 25 years, entertaining the nation with programmes they love. Its leading brands - Dave, Gold, W, Drama, Alibi, Eden and Yesterday - span comedy, entertainment, natural history, factual and drama, and are delivered to audiences through UKTV Play, Freeview, Sky, Virgin Media, BT, TalkTalk, YouView, Freesat and Amazon Fire. The broadcaster is a significant investor in British creativity and is committed to working with new and established writers, directors and programme-makers.

UKTV is part of BBC Studios, the UK's most-awarded production company, a world-class distributor with international branded services, and a commercial subsidiary of the world's leading public service broadcaster, the BBC.

corporate.uktv.co.uk | press.uktv.co.uk | @uktvpress

About Hat Trick Productions
Hat Trick is one of the UK's most successful independent production companies, whose output is immediately identified with popular and award-winning programming. Founded by Jimmy Mulville, Denise O'Donoghue and Rory McGrath in a cramped office in Soho in 1986 the aim was then, and is now, to make television programmes which we ourselves would like to watch. For more than 30 years Hat Trick has been working with some of the leading writers, producers, directors, performers and crew both in the UK and abroad. And some of the brightest names in British television began their careers and continue to build them under the Hat Trick banner.

About CASM FILMS
CASM FILMS is an independent film and television production company based in Los Angeles, partnering Cerise Hallam Larkin, Anna Paquin, Stephen Moyer and Mark Larkin.

The company has just completed its second feature film THE PARTING GLASS, directed by Moyer, and starring Paquin, Melissa Leo, Denis O' Hare, Ed Asner, Rhys Ifans and Cynthia Nixon. Sony Worldwide will release the film September 2019.

About Pop:
Pop is a fully distributed entertainment cable network featuring fun, comedy-leaning programming for Modern Grownups(R) engaged fans who came of age in the '80s and '90s raised on network TV. The Network recently ordered a new season of the critically acclaimed ONE DAY AT A TIME to join its original scripted series, including the Emmy-nominated signature comedy SCHITT'S CREEK, perennial favorites such as BIG BROTHER AFTER DARK, and a lineup of "Still Awesome" television hits including "90210" and "Charmed," Pop is TV the way it should be - effortlessly entertaining. Owned by CBS Corporation (NYSE: CBS.A and CBS), Pop is available on all major cable and satellite providers, as a downloadable app called PopNow and on most over-the-top streaming services.