At its inaugural Extravagander event, Channel 4 revealed a range of shows, billing them as “a commitment to creative risk taking… reaffirming its role as a champion of brilliant British ideas that entertain with purpose.”
(See separate Televisual news stories for more detail on the following commissions)
Drama
Following landmark shows Queer as Folk and It’s a Sin, Russell T Davies will return to Channel 4 with powerfully resonant new original drama, Tip Toe. The 5-part series will explore the most corrosive forces facing the LGBTQ+ community today, examining the danger as prejudice creeps back into our lives. Problems we thought were long-gone are returning, toughened and weaponised, until no one knows truth from lies any more.
Comedy
David Mitchell and Robert Webb are returning to Channel 4 with a new sketch show, which sees them combine forces with future stars, marking a return to British sketch comedy. In this six-part series Mitchell & Webb will be supported by an ensemble cast of next generation writer/performers: Kiell Smith-Bynoe, Lara Ricote, Stevie Martin, and Krystal Evans, plus a team of established and upcoming comic writers.
Reality & Entertainment
Twelve strangers arrive at a grand English country estate, lured by an opportunity: to inherit a chunk of a vast fortune which belonged to a glamorous benefactor known only as The Deceased. But The Deceased had a wicked sense of humour and one condition: to win money from The Inheritance they must persuade all others that only they should be entrusted with the money. It’s a game of wit, willpower, persuasion, and betrayal, where it’s not about who deserves the money, but who’s willing to outplay, out-charm, and out-scheme the competition to claim it.
New adventure reality show The Hunt follows ten contestants in an game of prey vs predator, with a prize of up to £100,000. In woodland, competitors play as either Predator or Prey. The Prey must hunt for cash, finding and completing challenges throughout the forest, whilst the Predators must hunt the prey. If the Predators succeed, they not only steal their target’s winnings, but their roles are reversed. The captured prey becomes a penniless predator and must now hunt other players to survive.
Britain’s Secret Genius will see Alan Carr and Susie Dent test Britain’s brainpower like never before as they seek to uncover the country’s most gifted and unsung minds. Channel 4 is teaming up with Mensa to find the UK’s secret geniuses – in hairdressers, factories and supermarkets – who are smarter than the nation’s top boffins but never knew it. This six-part series will see people from across the UK take part in immersive and ambitious challenges that will test all aspects of their brain power – encouraging viewers to play along and find out if they too have what it takes to be a genius.
Ian Katz, Channel 4’s Chief Content Officer said “From a major new drama by It’s a Sin creator Russell T Davies, to two fiendish new reality shows, this slate underlines Channel 4’s commitment to telling original British stories and backing bold new British ideas. Building on Channel 4’s reputation as the home of the most mischievous, innovative and outright obsessional reality TV around – and at a time when TV schedules can seem packed with reboots and remakes of foreign formats – we’re backing three new British grown formats of scale, alongside the launch of Honesty Box and the return of Tempting Fortune next month.
“At the same time our substantial investment in scripted programming will deliver double the number of drama hours on the channel and bold new comedy plays like David Mitchell and Robert Webb’s return to sketch. This is a slate designed to transform Channel 4 from a channel with a streaming app to a genuine public service streamer – delivering distinctive stories, the very best established and emerging talent, and, most importantly, oodles of unadulterated fun.”
Today’s announcements follow a string of recent reveals from Channel 4 including a slate of new shows from drama chief Ollie Madden, including Jack Thorne love story, Falling, a bold reimaging of Channel 4’s biggest ever drama, A Woman of Substance, an eight-part adaptation of Caroline O’Donoghue’s hilarious novel, The Rachel Incident, Daisy Haggard thriller, Maya, a second series of The Undeclared War and new legal drama, Pierre, staring David Harewood.
Whilst in documentaries, just weeks after the British news agenda was dominated by debate over the handling of the northern grooming scandal, Anna Hall, the filmmaker who first exposed the scandal in a Channel 4 film 21 years ago is returning to the issue with Groomed: A National Scandal, to reveal the shocking truth about grooming today – and the complete failure of our institutions to get to grips with it.
And comedy Big Mood will return to Channel 4 for a second outing. Nicola Coughlan will return as Maggie and Lydia West will return as Eddie, following a hugely successful first series that was Channel 4 streaming’s highest new comedy launch since Derry Girls.
Pippa Considine
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