Psychobitches returns to Sky Arts

Following the success of last year’s one off episode of Psychobitches as part of the Playhouse Presents strand the show is returning to Sky Arts this May for a series.

Featuring a cast of comedic talent, the new five-part comedy series is co-written and directed by The League of Gentleman’s Jeremy Dyson. The comedy puts history’s most famous women into the psychiatrist’s chair and shines a spotlight on their psychoses and obsessions.

Yes its a twisted portrayal of iconic women in front of discerning therapist Rebecca Front. The series includes Julia Davis as Enid Blyton, Sharon Horgan as Eve, Sam Spiro as Audrey Hepburn, Frances Barber as Bette Davis, Kathy Burke as Mona Lisa, and Katy Brand as Mary Shelley.

In the first episode Frances Barber and Mark Gatiss fight over diva status as Bette Davis and Joan Crawford; Selina Griffiths, Katy Brand and Sarah Solemani star as the squabbling Bronte sisters, while Julia Davis plays a less than cheery Sylvia Plath.

Episode two sees an equally eccentric line up with Steve Pemberton playing an unusually gruff Dian Fossey. Katy Brand’s pork pie-munching Diana Dors is confronted by Sam Spiro’s glamorous Marilyn Monroe, while Sharon Horgan gives her take on a brooding Virginia Woolf and a love-struck Cleopatra.

Sky say that Playhouse Presents aims to champion innovative productions and original writing, with the organisation investing £600 million in original content by 2014.