Sofie Gråbøl-starring Fortitude to launch on Sky Atlantic, January 29

Sky’s latest original drama Fortitude will land on Sky Atlantic later this month. 

The crime series follows events in and around an Arctic research station, in the wake of a murder. Stanley Tucci stars as DCI Morton, alongside The Killing’s Sofie Gråbøl as governor Hildur Odegard, screen icon Michael Gambon as terminally ill photographer Henry Tyson and former Doctor Who Christopher Eccleston as Professor Stoddart. 

In a company first for Sky, it’s also the first UK-produced show to debut simultaneously across all of Sky’s European markets as well as nabbing advance sales to 13 international broadcasters. This makes Fortitude the most successful show to date for Sky’s international distribution wing, Sky Vision. 

Stuart Murphy, director of entertainment for Sky said: “Fortitude is truly cinematic drama with a scale that sets it apart. The cast and editorial ambition show what we can do when we give world class talent the space to create game changing drama. 

“Launching simultaneously to 20 million customers demonstrates Sky’s increased reach across Europe, while record sales around the world mean an even bigger impact and greater returns. The fantastic reaction to Fortitude highlights the growing opportunity for us to create even more high-quality drama for international audiences in the future.” 

The Sky Atlantic channel is exclusive to Sky TV and Now TV subscribers. Sky TV packages start at £21.50/month while Now TV Entertainment passes cost £6.99/month. 

Sky TV customers who want Sky Atlantic in HD can get the Family Bundle, which gives you over 50 entertainment channels in Full HD for £33/month. Now TV’s high definition live ands catch up streams, where available, only go up to 720p, provided you’ve got enough bandwidth – you’ll need at least 2Mbps to stream regular SD content and 5Mbps to stream in HD. 

Right now the only Now TV-compatible box that can stream live and catch up TV in 720p is Apple’s plucky Apple TV box. Not even Sky’s own Now TV Box lets you watch live telly in 720p, but you can at least watch content on demand in high definition.

Similarly, LG smart TVs, Xboxes 360 and One, PlayStations 3 and 4 and Roku devices let you watch catch up content in 720p HD but only let you stream shows in SD. 

Sky has announced that in the run up to Game of Thrones season 5 landing on Sky Atlantic, seasons 1-4 will be available to watch on demand and via Now TV.