David Farnor | On 13, Feb 2017

Sky has ordered a second helping of its original drama Delicious.

The show, which stars Dawn French and Emilia Fox, is written by Dan Sefton (Mr Selfridge, Secret Diary of a Call Girl), and follows a tangled web of love, sex, lies and betrayal, all set against the backdrop of the competitive world of professional chefs.

The programme premiered at the end of 2016, but viewers were quick to devour it, with an average cumulative audience of 1.87 million, making it the most watched UK drama series on Sky 1 for the year.

It was equally popular on-demand, with viewing of the first episode more than doubling in the week after its debut. Launching with an overnight audience of 677,000, viewing increased by 142 per cent over seven days to 1.641 million.

Now, French and Fox will return to give audiences another taste, with Sefton penning new episodes for Bandit Television, part of Endemol Shine Group, for Sky 1.

Delicious was commissioned by Adam MacDonald, director of Sky 1 and Anne Mensah, Sky’s head of drama.

“We can’t wait to welcome Delicious and Bounty Hunters to Sky 1 in 2017,” says MacDonald. “Delicious delivered our largest average audience for a Sky 1 original drama in 2016, so we knew we had to put it back on the menu. Viewers can expect more love, more lies and more lip-smacking dishes to be served up next time around.”

“I am utterly delighted that there will be more,” adds French. “It is that rare thing where everything from every department comes together well, and Dan is already cooking up some remarkable storylines. I can’t wait to be back in Gina’s apron, up to my elbows in flour and up to my neck in trouble. Bring it on!”

Season 1 is currently available on-demand through Sky Box Sets and NOW.

 

On-demand appetite makes Delicious second biggest Sky 1 drama of 2016

12th January 2017

Catch-up streaming of Sky 1’s Delicious has driven it to become the channel’s second biggest original drama of 2016.

The show, which stars Dawn French and Emilia Fox and is written by Dan Sefton (Mr Selfridge, Secret Diary of a Call Girl), is an honest and compelling story of love, sex, lies and betrayal, where things are never as they seem.

That mix of ingredients was enough to draw viewers in on-demand, with viewing of the first episode more than doubling in the week after its debut. Launching with an overnight audience of 677,000, viewing increased by 142 per cent over seven days to 1.641 million. This makes it the seventh consecutive original drama to have launched on Sky 1 with an audience of over 1 million and the channel’s second biggest original drama launch of 2016.

Delicious is also one of top ten most watched shows of the week on online streaming service NOW, which allows non-Sky customers to stream Sky shows live and on-demand without a contract. Indeed, Episode 2 of the four-part drama, which aired on Friday, is proving just as popular. Having secured an overnight figure of 562,000, viewing has already grown to over 1 million with playback still climbing.

The strong performance of Delicious follows on from Sky 1’s best-performing Christmas Day ever, with the average overnight ratings across the day from shows including feature-length drama The Last Dragonslayer up 36 per cent year-on-year. It also rounds off a strong year for the channel, which saw original drama Stan Lee’s Lucky Man secure its place as Sky 1’s best-performing UK drama series ever, with an average cumulative audience of 1.77 million.

Adam MacDonald, Director of Sky 1, says: “It’s great to see customers are loving Delicious as much as we do and taking advantage of all the flexible ways to watch it. With a stand-out cast and a brilliant script we knew it was a recipe for success as soon as we read it. And the good news is there are still two more episodes to go!”

Customers can watch Delicious now on Sky 1, on demand and Sky Go, as well as through online streaming service NOW with a NOW Entertainment Month Pass.

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