Have a cracking Christmas with Sky 1

Darren Boyd joins Rebecca Front, Dylan Moran and Tommy Tiernan for the latest series of Little Crackers at Christmas.

Sky 1 HD is to welcome four more comedy stars of stage and screen to the third series of Little Crackers. This year Darren Boyd of Spy fame, Rebecca Front from The Thick of It, Shaun of the Dead star Dylan Moran and Tommy Tiernan of Small Potatoes complete the star-studded line up for 2012’s Little Crackers. The award-winning series of shorts showcases some of the UK and Ireland’s shining lights in comedy.

Rebecca Front said: “It’s a real thrill to be allowed to do one of the Little Crackers. I love the series. And it’s pretty weird but also lovely trying to recreate a story from your childhood, casting actors to play your family and even yourself. I hope what we’re making will be personal, but will also resonate with people watching.”

Already confirmed are Joanna Lumley of ATV’s Sapphire and Steel, who will also take on her directing debut with her short as will Omid Djalili and Caroline Quentin from BBC comedy Men Behaving Badly. Joanna finds herself retelling a story from her modelling days, as Caroline is visiting her mother in hospital and Omid tells us the story of him finding true love with his wife Annabel.

Joanna Lumley commented: “Directing an episode of Little Crackers was utterly wonderful: I had a brilliant team behind me and a hand-picked cast who couldn’t have been better. The story is based on my life as a model in the sixties and it was fascinating and thrilling to see the London scene I knew then being recreated before my eyes. I loved every minute of it: the casting and location finding, choosing the music and then the post production and editing after the shooting was over. I could become addicted to directing”.

This year’s line-up also has a 3D offering with Paul O’Grady, one time drag-star Lily Savage, and comedian Jason Manford. Both personalities film their tales in 3D as Jason re-examines his trip to the hospital as a child for an embarrassing procedure at the age of twelve.

Katy Brand from Nanny McPhee and Alison Steadman of Abigail’s Party  fame and Pulling star Sharon Horgan have also decided to take a trip down memory lane for Sky 1 this Christmas with their tales.

Lucy Lumsden, Head of Comedy, Sky Entertainment says: “We are thrilled to be bringing Little Crackers back to Sky 1 for a third year. The series has had two brilliant series so far and we are very proud to again be announcing the best names in comedy. This year we have a behind-the-scenes element to ensure we are bringing even more exclusive content to our customers.”

The new run will be produced by some of the best comedy production companies in the UK, including Baby Cow Productions, Bwark, Hillbilly, Left Bank Pictures, Little Comet, Merman, Pirate Productions, Sprout Pictures and Tiger Aspect Productions.

Omid Djalili added: “Coming face to face with the younger, better version of myself made me realise how handsome I used to be. Since filming finished I have been engaged in taking steps back to pinpoint exactly where it all began to go wrong”.