BBC Children’s In-House Productions has announced new commissions for TV, BBC iPlayer and other platforms.
Catie’s Amazing Machines (pictured) for CBeebies has professional rally driver Catie Munnings introducing the pre-school audience to some of her favourite machines from forklifts to lorries, ships to planes and trains to monster trucks and then takes them all for a test drive. Exec is Annette Williams
School Bus for CBBC, by Dominic and John Reynolds, is a brand new comedy that takes place entirely in one location, a school bus, as it journeys back and forth with pupils every day.
The central character is twelve year old Noah Beckett and the narrative focuses around the time he spends with his peers, catching up and telling each other stories from the day’s events. The bus is divided into three sections – the popular kids at the back, ‘the inbetweeners’ in the middle, and the well behaved kids at the front – and Noah is very much the boy in the centre. The exec is Sid Cole.
YolanDa’s Band Jam for CBeebies has Grammy Award Winning YolanDa Brown hosting a new 20 X 15 mins music show. Filmed at Chetham’s School of Music in Manchester, YolanDa guides a studio of 5-7 year olds through tempo, rhythm and other musical disciplines. YolanDa and composer Andrew Kingslow (Rastamouse, Apple Tree House) are joined by a range of special guests including singer/guitarist Newton Faulkner and country duo The Shires, The exec is Vanessa Amberleigh
It’s About Time for CBeebies attempts to explain time to young children. It’s About Time aims, through animated storytelling and live action contributors, to help the CBeebies audience understand the concept of ‘tomorrow’, ‘next week’, ‘yesterday’ etc in language and stories that will make sense to them. A mixture of live-action and animation. The animated characters are based on Jo Jo and Gran Gran created by writer Laura Henry with illustrations by Amy Bradley. The exec is Vanessa Amberleigh.
Match Of The Day: Can You Kick It? is a new formatted talent search which showcases some of the UK’s best young male and female freestyle footballers. Over 10 x 30 episodes, talented 10-14 year old players are pitched against each other in a variety of bespoke, football-skill/technique based challenges; created and developed with insight from top UK experts to test their overall game. The series is co-hosted by CBBC favourites Sam Nixon and Mark Rhodes, assisted by world champion freestyler, John Farnworth, as well as other special expert guests. The exec is Yvonne Jennings.
GiggleQuiz for CBeebies is an extension to the Gigglebiz. GiggleQuiz sees performer Justin Fletcher adopt the guise of quiz show host as he guides a range of his familiar and well-loved Gigglebiz characters through a series of quiz rounds. Using archive footage, viewers at home will be able to play along with their favourite characters with ‘what happened next?’ and ‘spot the difference’ as Nana Knickerbocker, Arthur Sleep, Dina Lady and a host of others compete for points. The exec is Vanessa Amberleigh.
Molly and Mack for CBeebies is a brand new 20 x 15 pre-school drama featuring eight year Molly and her 18 year old brother Mack. During the Summer holidays Molly is being looked after by a reluctant Mack who runs a vintage toy and record stall in the Big Hub, an indoor community market. The series follows Molly’s adventures with Mack, her friends and the people who run the various stalls. Exec is Sara Harkins.
Magician Chris Cox presents a brand new digital first title, Boggled, for CBBC iPlayer and digital platforms including YouTube and CBBC Buzz. His tricks involve characters from well-loved CBBC brands such as The Dumping Ground, Jamie Johnson and So Awkward.
Following on from the Snow Queen last year the CBeebies Christmas Show 2018 will be Thumbelina. For CBeebies Proms 2018, Justin Fletcher and his Something Special friends will attend a performance at the Royal Albert Hall and continuing the successful collaboration with Northern Ballet, CBeebies will present their ‘Puss In Boots’ in 2019. Exec: Vanessa Amberleigh
Returning Series
• Series 5 of period drama, Hetty Feather (10 x 30), adapted from the book by Dame Jacqueline Wilson.
• Series 3 of The Worst Witch (13 x 30), a co-production with ZDFE and based on the Jill Murphy books.
• Spooky anthology series Creeped Out, a co-production with DHX Media and created and written by Bede Blake and Rob Butler, is back for a second series in 2019.
• School based comedy drama 40CC (series 8) is commissioned for 2019.
• Hit brand The Dumping Ground will return in 2019 and 2020 (series 7a and 7b) alongside the launch of a spin off series on Instagram this year for older fans.
• Pre-school series Biggleton is commissioned again for 2019 (series 2)
• Also on CBeebies, Gigglebiz returns in 2019 (series 5) and Something Special (series 12) will also film in 2019.
· Vet Tales is currently filming with series 2 and Swashbuckle returns to CBeebies with series 6 in 2019
• CBBC brand The Dengineers is currently in production and will return in 2019 as well (series 5).
Staff Reporter
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