Sky Kids original "The Brilliant World of Tom Gates" will have a second season

Sky has commissioned a second series of the popular kids show "The Brilliant World of Tom Gates" (20x11’) from TG Entertainment Limited. The series is currently in production and will be available on Sky’s on-demand service Sky Kids and streaming service NOW in the UK & ROI in early 2022.  

In response to the popularity of the music segments in the first series, Sky has also commissioned additional songs from the original Tom Gates song writing team of Mark Flannery, Martin Cooper and Liz Pichon to create a new short-form music series as stand-alone programming which will run later this year. A 22’ seasonal special is also in production.

Likewise, WildBrain has secured a number of international sales for the first series to ABC (Australia), Knowledge Network and TVOKids (Canada), JUJKO and Tuki Channel (Slovakia), E-Vision and ejunior (MENA and Pakistan), MBC Group’s streaming platform Shahid (MENA), and PCCW – Now TV (Hong Kong).

A Sky Original kids series featuring a modular mixed-media magazine format, "The Brilliant World of Tom Gates" is based on the award-winning, multi-million-copy-bestselling Tom Gates books written and illustrated by Liz Pichon and published by Scholastic.  Liz is also co-writer and presents the Draw It sections of the series.

Lucy Murphy, Director of Kids Content at Sky UK & Ireland, said: “Tom Gates has been a real crowd-pleaser and has proven appeal to a broad age group of our viewers.  We’re really pleased to be teaming up again with Liz Pichon and TG Entertainment to bring more of Tom’s adventures to life and inspire our young audiences to get creative.”

Ken Anderson & Arabella Page, Croft of TG Entertainment, Executive Producers on Tom Gates, said: “In Tom’s words, it’s epic that Sky Kids has commissioned another series of 'The Brilliant World of Tom Gates'. We’ve all had such a fantastic time working on the show and are excited to be back in production again. This time we are able to spend real time together to create a series which will be better than ever!”

Liz Pichon, Tom Gates’ creator, said: “It's been really exciting to be part of the whole process of bringing 'The Brilliant World of Tom Gates' to life. The show is exactly the sort of programme that I'd have loved and got totally obsessed with when I was a kid. And the feedback I've had from my readers is - they feel exactly the same way. The whole show is stuffed full of creativity and fun ways to engage children and make them laugh. Everything I put in the books has been brought to life by the incredibly talented team of people that have all worked so hard to make the series brilliant. I can't wait for everyone else to see what we've done for series 2.”

Screen Scotland’s Jennifer Armitage said: “This is fantastic news for Scotland-based production company TG Entertainment and this recommission will support further significant growth opportunities for Scotland’s animation sector. 'The Brilliant World of Tom Gates' has brought to life on screen a widely beloved character in Tom Gates and inspired children through art and craft projects from creator Liz Pichon, which has proven vital over the last year. It is exciting to see that the first series will also be reaching international audiences too through this new deal.”

Caroline Tyre, VP Global Sales and Rights Strategy, WildBrain, said: “'The Brilliant World of Tom Gates' has been very well received by international broadcasters, and we’re delighted to support more of Tom’s adventures to inspire kids with engaging storytelling and humour, delivered on screen with the same wonderful creative style that has made Liz Pichon’s books so popular."