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After a successful first series, C´óÏó´«Ã½'s Horrible Histories is back for a second run.

Written by some of Britain's finest comedy writers, this series stars Sarah Hadland (That Mitchell And Webb Look), Jim Howick (Peep Show), Simon Farnaby (Jam and Jerusalem, The Mighty Boosh), Ben Ward (Dead Ringers), and voices from Jon Culshaw, who bring to life gruesome events and ghastly characters from British and international history.

C´óÏó´«Ã½ Controller Anne Gilchrist has ordered a second 13 x 30-minute series of the factual entertainment show from Lion Television which is based on the best-selling books by Terry Deary and illustrated by Martin Brown.

"Horrible Histories was a hideously gruesome and gory success for C´óÏó´«Ã½," says Anne Gilchrist.

"It introduced children to the great facts and narratives of history in a hilarious way and featured some of the finest in comedy writing and performances I've seen for a long time."

The first series debuted this spring on C´óÏó´«Ã½ and was a success amongst six to 12 year old viewers, pulling in a 13.3% audience share when it was screened on C´óÏó´«Ã½ on ´óÏó´«Ã½ One. It peaked at an 11.8% share when it was repeated on the C´óÏó´«Ã½ channel.

The series was also a hit on ´óÏó´«Ã½ iPlayer, being one of the most requested children's programmes in May.

The new series of Horrible Histories will bring to life strange facts, rotten rulers, gory battles, crazy inventions and weird and wonderful moments from the past. It features shocking stories from the Aztecs, Incas and America, and, closer to home, it will cover terrible tales from Scotland, Ireland, Wales and also black history.

Each episode will feature a mixture of sketches from different ages, played by the talented ensemble cast, and commentary from the show's host – a talking rat.

The writing team boasts some of the finest comedy talent around including Steve Punt, Jon Holmes (Dead Ringers) and Giles Pilbrow (Have I Got News For You), Colin Swash (Have I Got News For You), Laurence Richard (Armstrong And Miller), Fay Rusling and Oriane Messina (Green, Wing, and Smack The Pony).

Horrible Histories is a Lion TV production for C´óÏó´«Ã½ based on the series of books licensed by Scholastic Entertainment and published by Scholastic UK.

The series is executive produced for C´óÏó´«Ã½ by Alison Gregory and for Lion TV by Richard Bradley. The series producer is Caroline Norris and the directors are Dominic Brigstocke and Steve Connelly.

VT