HBO mini-series to air in December in UK

© 2014 Home Box Office

Sky Atlantic has picked up the exclusive UK rights to air HBO’s acclaimed mini-series Olive Kitteridge.

Based on Elizabeth Strout’s Pulitzer prize-winning novel, the series stars Academy Award winner Frances McDormand (Fargo), Richard Jenkins (Six Feet Under) and Bill Murray (Lost in Translation).

Olive Kitteridge tells the poignantly sweet, acerbically funny and devastatingly tragic story of a seemingly placid New England town wrought with illicit affairs, crime and tragedy, told through the lens of Olive (McDormand), whose wicked wit and harsh demeanor mask a warm but troubled heart and staunch moral center. Jenkins portrays Olive’s husband, Henry.

The story, which spans 25 years over the four parts, focuses on Olive, a middle-school math teacher, and her relationships with Henry, the good-hearted town pharmacist, their son Christopher, who chafes at his mother’s parenting style, and other denizens of their community.

The series is written by Jane Anderson (The Positively True Adventures of the Alleged Texas Cheerleader-Murdering Mom) and directed by Lisa Cholodenko.

A Playtone production in association with As Is, the series is executive produced by Tom Hanks, Gary Goetzman, Frances McDormand and Jane Anderson and Steven Shareshian is the co-executive producer.

Olive Kitteridge airs on Sky Atlantic this December.