Urban Myths

Our "Urban Myths" are stories that have been passed down over time and have now become part of urban folklore. But are they true? We take a slightly tongue-in-cheek, mischievous--and deliberately ambiguous--look at what might have happened.

Genre: Adventure, Biography, Comedy

Cast:David Avery , Robbie Coltrane , Saoirse-Monica Jackson , Mathew Baynton , Paul Kaye , Sean Biggerstaff , Richard Gadd , Dustin Demri-Burns , Steve Pemberton , Sophie Rundle , Fehinti Balogun , Sean Foley , Rupert Grint , Eddie Marsan , Noel Clarke , Ben Chaplin , David Threlfall , Gemma Arterton

1Season 1

S1.E1 ∙ Bob Dylan: Knockin' on Dave's Door

Thu, Jan 19, 2017

Music legend Bob Dylan decides to fly to the U.K. one day to visit his mate Dave Stewart. Soon he finds himself waiting for Dave in his flat dutifully being served tea by his girlfriend. But is he really in the right place? You decide.

2Season 1

S1.E2 ∙ Samuel Beckett and Andre the Giant

Thu, Jan 26, 2017

Enigmatic playwright engages exasperating builder, one of whose inventive excuses is dissolved when Sam drives Andre the Giant to school. Sam sees what others do not and thereby helps Andre become his own self.

3Season 1

S1.E3 ∙ Hitler the Artist

Thu, Feb 2, 2017

Adolf Hitler has arrived in Vienna full of hope and ambition. A passionate artist, he is determined to win a place at the acclaimed Academy of Fine Arts Vienna.

4Season 1

S1.E4 ∙ Cary Grant and Timothy Leary

Thu, Feb 9, 2017

When Dr. Timothy Leary turns up in Cary Grant's dressing room on the set of North By Northwest, the two men visit the past and the future with a little help from Grant's personal supply of LSD.

5Season 1

S1.E5 ∙ The Greatest. Of All Time.

Thu, Feb 16, 2017

In the early 1980s, after his recent and high profile defeat to Larry Holmes, boxing legend Muhammad Ali takes it upon himself to talk a suicidal stranger down from a ledge. Using his unique brand of wit and wisdom, he succeeds in persuading the man that life is worth living, and learns a huge amount about himself in the process.

6Season 1

S1.E6 ∙ Elizabeth, Michael and Marlon

Unaired episode. A road trip that takes place after the 9/11 attacks, taking Michael Jackson, Elizabeth Taylor and Marlon Brando from New York City to Los Angeles, California.

1Season 2

S2.E1 ∙ Marilyn Monroe and Billy Wilder

Thu, Apr 12, 2018

Marilyn Monroe's struggles while filming Some Like It Hot (1959) exasperate director Billy Wilder.

2Season 2

S2.E2 ∙ Backstage at Live Aid

Thu, Apr 19, 2018

Live Aid was not only "the day rock'n 'roll changed the world", it was also the source of countless music industry rumours. Backstage at Live Aid is a reimagined story that takes place behind the scenes on that unforgettable day in 1985.

3Season 2

S2.E3 ∙ Johnny Cash and the Ostrich

Thu, Apr 26, 2018

Nottingham, 1983. Jean, the hotel manageress, is told there's trouble in the room occupied by music legend Johnny Cash. As they sit amongst the carnage, Cash explains he's been visited by Waldo, the killer ostrich.

4Season 2

S2.E4 ∙ The Dali and the Cooper

Thu, May 3, 2018

The incredible story of a fascinating and weird few days in 1970s New York between the artist and his new found muse; one which led to the creation an extraordinary work of art involving a chocolate éclair and a brain.

5Season 2

S2.E5 ∙ David Bowie and Marc Bolan

Thu, May 10, 2018

Teenagers David and Marc are yet to hit the big time but an afternoon painting their manager's office is the starts of a lifelong friendship between the two, who will eventually be known as music legends David Bowie and Marc Bolan.

6Season 2

S2.E6 ∙ Agatha Christie

Thu, Apr 12, 2018

Crime writers Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Dorothy L Sayers put their sleuthing skills to the ultimate test in 1926 when they are drafted in to help police in the hunt for Agatha Christie.

7Season 2

S2.E7 ∙ Public Enemy (feat. Kev Wells)

Thu, May 24, 2018

When Rap legends Public Enemy are stranded, unable to get to get to a gig in Sheffield, help comes in the form of Kev, an unassuming local and huge Public Enemy fan who offers Flavor Flav and Chuck D a lift in his Ford Focus.

8Season 2

S2.E8 ∙ The Sex Pistols Vs. Bill Grundy

Thu, May 31, 2018

Semi fictitious account of the infamous TV interview that finished Bill Grundy's career and made punk rock band the Sex Pistols media stars.

1Season 3

S3.E1 ∙ Bleak House Guest

Wed, Apr 24, 2019

The true-ish story of when Dickens superfan Hans Christian Andersen turned up unexpectedly on Charles and Catherine Dickens' doorstep quickly proving to be the most impossible (and unshakeable) house-guest imaginable.

2Season 3

S3.E2 ∙ Andy & The Donald

Wed, Apr 17, 2019

In 1984, property magnate and entrepreneur Donald Trump bought an American football team. In an attempt to stir up some publicity, he held cheerleader auditions in the basement of Trump Tower with a panel of celebrity judges, including Andy Warhol. Though initially reluctant to take part, Warhol had some unfinished business with the tycoon, who had previously commissioned some artwork which he never paid for. So Warhol decided to use the opportunity to confront the future US president about the debt.

3Season 3

S3.E3 ∙ The Trial of Joan Collins

Wed, May 1, 2019

The film will cover Collins' extraordinary real-life 1996 court case with publishers Random House, who had paid her a whopping advance for a novel, only to claim that her submitted manuscript was "unreadable".

4Season 3

S3.E4 ∙ Grace Under Pressure

Wed, May 8, 2019

A burglar breaks into the apartment of Grace Jones and artist Jean-Paul Goude. He is interrupted by Debbie Harry and Andy Warhol.

5Season 3

S3.E5 ∙ Princess Diana, Freddie and Kenny: One Normal Night

Wed, Apr 10, 2019

Freddie Mercury and Kenny Everett disguise friend Diana to give Princess Di a night out on the town.

6Season 3

S3.E6 ∙ Madonna and Basquiat

2019

An examination of the story behind the romantic relationship between Madonna and Basquiat.

7Season 3

S3.E7 ∙ Paul McCartney's Scrambled Eggs

2019

Set in 1963 and, based on interviews Paul McCartney has given over the years about how he dreamed the melody to "Yesterday," this is a celebratory story of creativity, and how arguably the greatest song of the Twentieth Century came to be.

8Season 3

S3.E8 ∙ Mick Jagger and Princess Margaret

Wed, May 29, 2019

A journey through the thirty year friendship between Mick Jagger and Princess Margaret.

1Season 4

S4.E1 ∙ Les Dawson's Parisienne Adventure

Wed, Oct 7, 2020

The much-loved stand-up comedian Les Dawson flees to live in Paris in order to pursue his dream of becoming a serious novelist. Unfortunately things don't quite work out as planned and he ends up becoming a pianist in a brothel.

2Season 4

S4.E2 ∙ When Joan Kissed Barbra

Wed, Oct 14, 2020

Urban Myths: When Joan Kissed Barbra (Sky Arts) Starring Katherine Ryan and Jessica Barden, is based on Joan Rivers' recollections of an off Broadway play 'Driftwood' that she starred in with Barbra Streisand

3Season 4

S4.E3 ∙ Hendrix & Handel

Wed, Oct 21, 2020

Housemates separated by time, Jimi Hendrix (Zach Wyatt) and George Frideric Handel (David Haig) grapple with the stresses of the music business in this funny and intimate portrait of the private lives of two eccentric musical geniuses.

4Season 4

S4.E4 ∙ F for Fakenham

Sat, Oct 12, 2019

Desperate for money, Orson Welles agrees to front a British anthology series, but after a shaky start he is taken hostage.