Tom Ellis, Joanna Page and Sue Johnston get caught up in the chaos of the “GATES”

Sky has announced it has commissioned new comedy, Gates for Sky Atlantic HD.

Penned by Award-winning Benidorm writer Derren Litten, GATES is a 5 x 30 minute comedy set in the all too familiar chaos of the school gates.

An ensemble cast is headed by Sue Johnston (The Royle Family, Waking The Dead), Tom Ellis (Miranda), Joanna Page (Gavin and Stacey, Love Actually) and 2011’s Orange Rising Star winner Adam Deacon (Kidulthood, Being Human)

Ellis and Page play parents Mark and Helen who’ve recently moved to the South East where their nine-year-old daughter is starting at a new primary school. And they’re about to discover what happens when your children choose your friends.

Essentially a character comedy, but with a nod to those sketch-like moments of madness which can only ever happen in the playground, GATES casts an eye on how relationships with parents formed during fifteen minutes of a school drop off and pick up can so easily take over your life.  The school gates can be an unforgiving, socially exposed political minefield.

Lucy Lumsden, Head of Comedy Sky: “Following our recent comedy successes including Stella, Spy and Trollied, it’s an extremely exciting time for Sky. This latest wave of announcements today across Sky Arts and Sky Living demonstrate that we are hungry to work with the best talent at home and abroad and expand our ambitions for comedy across our other channels.”

Produced by Tiger Aspect, Gates was Executive Produced by Lucy Lumsden and Saskia Schuster for Sky and Laurence Bowen from Feelgood Fiction, and will be Produced by Izzy Mant (Peep Show). Sam Cadman and Gordon Anderson (The Catherine Tate Show) is the director.

The Gates will air on Sky Living in the Autumn.