Series two of E4’s hit comedy Dead Pixels has arrived! After a two-year wait the part-animated-part-live-action sitcom from BAFTA award-winning writer Jon Brown is back on our screens. Keyframe Studios, a creative full-service London studio is the brains behind the innovated animated sequences as well the 2D and 3D characters seen in Kingdom Scrolls, the computer game played in Dead Pixels.

Dead Pixels is about gamers Meg (Alexa Davies – Mamma Mia 2, Raised by Wolves, Detectorists), Nicky (Will Merrick – Poldark, Skins), Russell (David Mumeni – Damned, Lost in London) and Usman (Sargon Yelda – Spectre, Innocent) who are devoted fans of the online game Kingdom Scrolls. Things become even more emotionally complicated for the gang with non-gamer Alison (Charlotte Ritchie -– Call the Midwife, Raised by Wolves, Fresh Meat) still stuck on the sidelines

Kingdom Scrolls was designed by Keyframe Studios solely for Dead Pixels. Developing a realistic look and feel for the game was an exciting premise and there were a number of new challenges for Keyframe Studios in the lead-up to series two. This included the new expansion pack of Kingdom Scrolls, which required enhanced graphics and an epic cinematic look. There were also new characters and new relationships influencing the gameplay. Keyframe was also tasked with creating a retro version of the game in a nod to its first version – and older game graphics – circa 2006.

Animation production on series two of Dead Pixels was completed in eight months, with the Keyframe Studios team seamlessly moving to remote working for the final stages of production. The team used Keyframe’s bespoke animation pipeline built on the Unity platform – the leading real-time 3D content creation platform, which Keyframe has fully customized over the past five years.

Asa Movshovitz, Founder and Animation Director, Keyframe, says: “Dead Pixels is a beautifully acted, hilariously scripted show by the extraordinarily gifted (and BAFTA-winning) Jon Brown that also offered some major challenges for our animation team: to design an MMORPG game, redesign it and then tweak it to reflect changes to the script and real life. The result is a funny, engaging and unique show about gaming based around a very believable – if fictional – MMORPG game. We’re delighted to have played a part in bringing the extraordinary world of Dead Pixels to the small screen.”

Alexa Davies, who plays Meg in the series says: “It’s amazing! Honestly, I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw it. The expansion pack brings an upgrade and it’s just magnificent. Greta and all of the other Avatars have little upgrades and they look brilliant. The work done on the animation is amazing and I think it adds so much to show.”

Today, Keyframe’s highly customized animation pipeline is used in all the studio’s workflow – whether it’s delivering 3D CGI and 2D for broadcast, virtual reality, interactives, apps, advertising or games – including its popular pre-school animated show, Adventures of Zeze Zebra.

In the case of Dead Pixels the result is a fully realised gaming world, in which gamers in particular will notice affectionate references to hits old and new like Mortal Kombat, Fortnite, World of Warcraft and Runescape.

Dead Pixels is written by writer Jon Brown (Succession, Fresh Meat, Veep) and executive produced by Brown, Matthew Mulot, Phil Clarke and Peep Show and Fresh Meat creators Sam Bain and Jesse Armstrong. Series two airs weekly on Tuesdays at 10pm on E4. Both series one and two are available to stream for free on All 4.

About Keyframe Studios

Established in the UK in 2009, Keyframe Studios is a creative full-service London-based animation studio for 2D and 3D character animation. Keyframe specialize in 3D character CGI production for television commercials, TV series, digital platforms, interactive media and develop mobile games and apps. Clients include broadcasters Channel 4, BBC, Sky, BBC Studios, production companies and agencies. Keyframe also creates high-end CGI content and interactives for brands including children’s edtech Marco Polo Learning, Lloyds Bank, Hyundai, Nissan, Samsung, and Vodafone.

About Unity

Unity is the world’s leading platform for creating and operating interactive, real-time 3D (RT3D) content. We empower creators. Across industries and around the world.