On Sky's Big Spell with Sue Perkins

Joe Lycett has landed a major presenting job, fronting Sky 1’s The Big Spell with Sue Perkins and Moira Stuart.

The new family entertainment series, base on an Australian hit, aims to uncover the nation’s best young speller. Twenty children aged nine to 13 will go word to word in what the broadcaster calls ‘the ultimate spelling showdown’.

Sky says: ‘Much more than a traditional spelling bee, The Big Spell is packed with jaw-dropping drama and incredible emotion as these brilliant young spellers compete in a range of challenges based around spelling, words and meanings.

Sue Perkins will host the eight-part series, while Lycett will be backstage with the parents  and Stuart will be officiating as the show’s pronouncer.

Sky’s commissioning editor Richard Ackerman said: ‘We absolutely love this show, it’s full of nail-biting tension and tremendous warmth. Furthermore the show has taught me two things; firstly the old adage isn’t true, you can work with children and these kids are extraordinarily talented and fantastically charming. The second thing I learned is that my own spelling is awful.’

Published: 15 Jul 2016