Sky will be doubling its offering of original film and TV content, with more than 125 new Sky Originals planned for 2021.

Spanning drama, film, entertainment and documentary, new productions will feature British stars including Dame Judi Dench, Eddie Izzard, Sir Michael Caine and Sir Patrick Stewart.

US stars working across shows include Morgan Freeman, Robert DeNiro, Julianne Moore and Kristen Wiig.

As part of the content boost, Sky Cinema will be releasing at least two new original films every month – with that number set to rise to one a week from next year.

There will be 30 new Sky Original films and 30 new Sky Original documentaries arriving on the platform in addition to drama, comedy, entertainment and arts series.

New series include forensic crime drama Wolfe starring Rogue One actor Babou Ceesay and written by Shameless creator Paul Abbott, and sci-fi classic The Midwich Cuckoos, adapted for the screen by The Night Manager writer David Farr. The Midwich adaptation will be out in 2022.

Action thriller Extinction, starring Paapa Essiedu and written by Giri/Haji creator Joe Barton will tell the story of a man forced to relive the same day over and over again.

While Bloods is a new paramedic comedy following mismatched ambulance paramedics at a south London emergency service played by Samson Kayo and Jane Horrocks.

Films to look forward to include the origin story of Father Christmas – A Boy Called Christmas – starring Jim Broadbent, Maggie Smith & Kristen Wiig, and the very timely Save The Cinema, led by an all-star British cast including Samantha Morton, Jonathan Pryce and Tom Felton.

Creation Stories, written by Irvine Welsh and Dean Cavanagh, will chart the real life rise and fall of Creation Records and its infamous founder Alan McGee – the man behind Brit Pop and Cool Britannia.

And in more good news for film lovers, work is now underway on Sky Studios Elstree – a new state-of-the-art TV and film studio in North London – which is set to be the most sustainable in the world when it opens in 2022.

Documentaries on the way include a forensic examination of the case of Jeremy Bamber and the White House Farm Murders – The Bambers: Murder at the Farm – which is executive produced by Louis Theroux and Aaron Fellows.

Using first-hand testimony and unseen archive footage to re-examine the shocking events of 1985, the film explores evidence that has emerged since the original trial of Bamber.

Speaking about the project, Theroux said: “It’s a big responsibility taking on a subject that’s touched the lives of so many people in such a tragic way. But I’m confident we can make it much more than a true crime documentary.

“This is a story not only about the criminal justice system but about family and adoption, class and religion, mental health and the undeserved stigma around it.”

And after international acclaim and numerous awards for Sky Atlantic drama Chernobyl, the revealing documentary Chernobyl 86 will analyse newly discovered footage from the nuclear power plant disaster.

The hour-and-a-half film features video shot at great risk in the hours, days, weeks and months after the accident by a handful of cameramen positioned inside of the plant. It will air on Sky Documentaries in 2022.

Original comedy on the way includes Safe Space, starring, written and created by comedian Greg Davies, and Russell Howard’s Back to the Future – a travelogue filmed as the stand-up toured around New Zealand and Australia.

These new announcements add to the Sky original series already due to air this year, including Brassic series three, Britannia series three and Temple series two.

Looking ahead, Sky has committed to more than double its investment in original content by 2024.

Managing director of content Zai Bennett said: “This year on Sky and NOW TV we’ve got an epic variety of entertainment for everyone, adding a brand-new slate of Sky Original films and Sky Original documentaries to our line-up of award-winning drama, comedy, entertainment and arts series.”

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Other new and returning shows announced include:

• Intergalactic – a prison-break drama with Eleanor Tomlinson and Parminder Nagra

• Twist – a new take on the Dickens classic with Oscar winner Sir Michael Caine and pop star Rita Ora

• Breeders series 2 – with Martin Freeman and Daisy Haggard

• Intelligence series 2 – with David Schwimmer and Nick Mohammed

• Sharks with Steve Backshall – a new original documentary

• Bruno vs Tyson – a new original documentary about Frank Bruno and Mike Tyson