Tim Roth makes the leap from Reservoir Dogs and The Incredible Hulk to take the title role, a character he describes as a 'grumpy old sod'.
That is, until he is discovered by a boy, Michael, played by Bill Milner, who will be familiar to UK audiences from Son of Rambow.
John Simm and Kelly Macdonald in Skellig
Michael's dad, Dave, is played by John Simm, who seems to be everyone's favourite actor for his roles in Doctor Who, Life on Mars and The Devil's Whore. Kelly Macdonald, seen recently with an impeccable Southern accent in No Country for Old Men, is the boy's mum, Louise.
She is pregnant and Sky1's Skellig begins when her family moves to a bigger home to accommodate the new arrival.
Michael's baby sister is born premature and, while his parents are preoccupied with her care, he befriends an eccentric girl from next door, Mina (Skye Bennett). In the wild garden of his new home is a broken-down shed and, when he goes exploring, Michael finds the 'tramp' Skellig in there amid a horde of old rubbish.
David Almond's Multi-Awarding Story
The book, the first published by David Almond, won the Carnegie Medal, the Whitbread Children's Book of the Year and several international prizes. It's been raved about by critics, as well winning praise for Almond from acclaimed authors such as Michael Morpurgo and Philip Pullman, who described Skellig in The Guardian as 'truly original, mysterious and affecting'.
Sky1, hot on the heels of its success with Terry Pratchett's Hogfather, which won the channel the highest audience for a multi-channel commission, pumped a reported £10m into a trio of original dramas based on popular books - Chris Ryan's Strike Back, Pratchett's Going Postal and Skellig.
CGI Effects and Echos of Pan's Labyrinth
The production looks sumptuous with a lot of CGI effects in places and a Pan's Labyrinth feel at times. And Sky1 has assembled a very watchable cast.
Tim Roth says in a Sky1 press statement: 'I was reading a bunch of scripts, and I mentioned to my son, Hunter, who is 13, that I was reading this really lovely piece called Skellig. He went, "I've read that, it's great." He and his mates had read the book at school. The script was a very adult children's film in a way. It didn't patronise.
Skellig and Great Expectations
'I think of Skellig as a tramp, a rotting man in a shed. What is rather lovely is that this boy finds this man in a terrible, dishevelled state in his house and he actually wants to make him healthy and look after him.
'It reminded me of David Lean's 1946 Great Expectations a bit. It's about something that scares you, but you end up liking.'
Kelly Macdonald gave birth to a boy in March last year before playing new-mum Louise. She says in a Sky1 press statement, 'I thought it was a really lovely story. The fact that I'd just had a baby was a bonus.'
Like a Roald Dahl Story
John Simm, whose seven-year-old son Ryan gave him a wide berth after he played Doctor Who's evil arch-enemy the Master, hopes he'll be more popular at home after Skellig.
'Skellig's not some cuddly little man at the bottom of the garden,' he says in a Sky1 press statement. 'He's like a horrible, cracked-skinned guy who's not very nice at first. It won't be sugar-coated in any way. Kids tend to like that. It's very similar to a Roald Dahl story.'
David Almond, whose companion novel to Skellig, Mina's Story, comes out in 2010 (according to thebookseller.com), wrote Skellig in six months.
What Is Skellig?
'The first thing that came to me,' he says in a Sky1 press statement, 'was Michael going into the shed. When I wrote that I didn't know what he'd found, but I knew it was something important. When Michael puts his hands across Skellig's back and felt something, I thought, "Oh no, this guy's got wings."
'I go to schools and people go, "Please, Mr Almond, tell us what Skellig is," and I say, "I don't know." He's mysterious. I think that's one of the things people like about it.'
Skellig is on Sky1 and Sky1 HD on Easter Sunday 7pm. Running time: two hours approx.
- Starring Tim Roth, Kelly Macdonald, Bill Milner, John Simm, Skye Bennett
- Director Annabel Jankel
- Producer Nick Hirschkorn
- Screenwriter Irena Brignull
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