Tag Archives: Channel 4

October 16, 2012 · 2:45 pm

Old cast ‘will return to Skins’

Former Skins stars to return for series seven

E4 has announced the return of Skins stars Kaya Scodelario, Jack O’Connell and Hannah Murray for the seventh series of the multi-award winning teen drama.

Series seven will be made up of three individual stories, one each for Cassie, (Murray), Cook (O’Connell) and Effy (Scodelario), and will centre on the characters, who are now in their early twenties.

According to the press release, “the party’s over and they’re starting out as young adults, struggling to find a direction and a focus in unforgiving times.”

Co-creator, Bryan Elsley, said:

“I am delighted that three emblematic actors, currently embarking on successful movie careers are returning to E4 and Skins. They will play their iconic characters as they emerge into adulthood, and bring new challenging stories of young adults, grappling with life in Cameron’s Britain, to vivid and entertaining focus.”

The three episodes will be entitled Skins Pure, Skins Rise and Skins Fire, and will also feature Lily Loveless as Naomi and Kat Prescott, Emily, in guest roles.

The new series of Skins will start shooting in Manchester and London between October 2012 and January 2013, with the show expected to hit our television screens in Spring 2013.

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· 12:43 pm

T4 axed by Channel 4

T4 to end after 14 years

Channel 4 has announced that its T4 strand of programming will end this December, after 14 years on air.

The show, which launched the careers of Alexa Chung, Vernon Kay, Dermot O’Leary and new Radio One breakfast host, Nick Grimshaw, will reportedly make way for a number of new music shows when the final edition airs.

Jameela Jamil, one of the current T4 presenters, backed up the news on Twitter, posting:

“Yes. It is true and it is very sad… T4 will be closing its doors this is year… This is probably what ol’ nostradamus was ravin on about.” [sic]

Known as ‘hangover TV’ and featuring programmes such as Hollyoaks, Friends and Scrubs, T4 was launched in 1998, however its audience had declined in recent years.

The series had recently been moved over to E4 on a Sunday morning to make way for new show, Sunday Brunch.

Dominic Bird, Channel 4′s Head of Formats, said:

“Whilst T4 has historically been a much loved destination for our young audiences, its popularity has been incrementally diminished over time by the digital revolution. In a landscape where Channel 4 now provides E4, the nation’s most popular channel for 16 -34 year olds.

“T4 has been fighting incredibly hard maintain the cut through it once enjoyed and now is the right time to look at more appropriate ways to serve our younger viewers.”

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May 9, 2012 · 4:13 pm

Derek series gets go-ahead

Pilkington and Gervais star in Derek

Ricky Gervais’ comedy drama, Derek, has been commissioned by Channel 4, it has been confirmed.

One episode of the show, starring Gervais as care home worker Derek Noakes, was broadcast by the Channel in April and received the highest audience figures for a scripted comedy in nearly two years.

Head of Comedy at Channel 4, Shane Allen, said of the news:

“The pilot triggered an amazing response and Derek’s story had only just begun so it’s brilliant that we can explore this world and its beautifully drawn characters across a series”

Gervais, 50, also commented:

“David Brent [of The Office] was an egotistical, failed musician and the most annoying man in the world.

“Derek is a 50 year old man with bad hair and clothes, whose best friend is a whinging bald Manc twonk. Where do I get my ideas from?”

Derek follows the lives of a “group of outsiders living of societies margins” and stars Karl Pilkington as landlord, Dougie and Kerry Godliman as a care worker at the home.

The series will again be written and directed by Gervais and is set to air next year.

Related: New Idiot Abroad series confirmed

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May 8, 2012 · 12:34 pm

Channel 4 secures Homeland series two

Danes plays Carrie Mathison in the US drama

The second series of Homeland will be aired by Channel 4, it has been confirmed.

A continuity announcer revealed the news after the first season finale of the show, which stars Damian Lewis and Claire Danes, aired on 6 May.

The news was then confirmed on the Channel 4 website in an article entitled ‘Oh God, we’ve got to go through it all again!’

A one minute-long trailer for the second series has also debuted and, while there are no new scenes or characters shown, it does pose a number of unanswered questions, including “where is the vest?” and “how much will Carrie remember?”

The first season of the political thriller was well received, with weekly audience figures reaching 4million.

The show has also attracted a number of famous fans, including Barack Obama and Lindsay Lohan.

Series two of Homeland will premiere in the US on 30 September.

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March 20, 2012 · 2:19 pm

New Gervais pilot gets go ahead

Derek will appear on Channel 4 this April

The pilot episode for Ricky Gervais’ new sitcom, Derek, will be screened on Channel 4 next month, it has been confirmed.

Written and directed by Gervais, Derek is a bittersweet one-off drama about a “group of outsiders living on societies margins”, according to BAFTA.

Gervais is, however, hoping that the nursing home-centred comedy will be commissioned for a full series.

A Channel 4 spokesperson said of the programme:

“Channel 4 is very excited to be working with Ricky Gervais on this new project and it’s wrong to say we have rejected a series.

“The pilot will be on TV in April and then there’ll be further discussions about the potential for a full series.”

The show will see Gervais play retirement home worker Derek Noakes, alongside Kerry Godliman, who stars as his friend, Hannah.

Karl Pilkington will also appear in the show as Dougie, Derek’s employer.

Derek will be screened by BAFTA at the Princess Anne Theatre on 27 March and on Channel 4 this April.

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March 8, 2012 · 11:12 am

Skins axe confirmed by Channel 4

Skins will end in 2013 with a finale series

Channel 4 has announced that its teen drama Skins will end next year.

The broadcaster confirmed the news in a statement released on 7 March, which said:

“Channel 4 today confirmed that next year’s series of E4′s teen drama Skins will be its last.

“The new series will be a celebration of this truly iconic series, and will go to air in early 2013.

“Skins is a brilliant show which has defined a generation and will go down as a game-changing piece of television.

“But after seven series it is time for E4 to make way for the next generation of the bold, the new and the innovative.”

However, the show is set to go out with a bang, with some reports suggesting that old characters will return for the finale series.

Skins started back in 2007, following a group of Bristolian teenagers as they misbehaved and partied their way through college.

The show constantly pushed the boundaries and featured a number of controversial storylines, covering mental illness, dysfunctional families, eating disorders, substance abuse and death.

Skins launched the careers of Kaya Scodelario, who recently played the lead in a remake of Wuthering Heights, This is England star Jack O’Connell and featured Nicholas Hoult, who first shot to fame in film adaptation of About a Boy.

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February 16, 2012 · 10:20 am

Lovejoy, Rimmer move to Channel 4

Tim and Simon are set for Channel 4

Something for the Weekend’s Tim Lovejoy and Simon Rimmer are to join Channel 4 for a new show called Sunday Brunch, it has been confirmed.

The pair will move to the channel in March to front the new programme.

Presenter Lovejoy and chef Rimmer said in a statement:

“We’re chuffed to be joining Channel 4. We have a great laugh working together and we’re very pleased we can continue that in our new home.”

Dominic Bird, who commissioned the new weekend show, added:

“Simon and Tim have brilliant on screen chemistry and their partnership will be at the heart of Sunday Brunch. They’re a great fit for Channel 4 and we can’t wait to get going on the new show.”

Sunday Brunch promises a mix of celebrity guests, cookery and “wit, chat and banter”; a remarkably similar line-up to that of axed BBC show, Something for the Weekend.

It was announced that Something for the Weekend – which is also presented by former Eternal singer Louise Redknapp – was getting the chop earlier this year, after a run of nearly six years.

A number of celebrities joined a high profile campaign to save the show, including Professor Brian Cox and Lisa Faulkner.

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November 16, 2011 · 10:57 am

New Countdown host revealed

Nick will replace Jeff Stelling

Apprentice star Nick Hewer has been announced as the new presenter of Countdown.

Hewer will replace Jeff Stelling on the Channel 4 quiz show in December, with his first on-air appearance set for 9 January 2012.

Hewer, Lord Sugar’s sidekick on the BBC show, will be the fifth host in the programme’s 30-year history.

He will appear alongside maths-expert Rachel Riley and Dictionary Corner’s Susie Dent.

Hewer spoke to the Guardian about his new venture, saying:

“I’m flattered to have been asked to present such an iconic programme and will work hard to justify sitting in the same seat as such great talents as Jeff Stelling, Des O’Connor and of course the great Richard Whiteley.

“It’s particularly fitting that I should be doing this now as my spelling has started to slip quite badly. I used to be able spell chrysanthemum.”

According to the Daily Mirror, Nick is said to have beaten a number of high profile candidates to bag the job, including Sir Terry Wogan, Sue Barker and Rory Bremner.

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September 29, 2011 · 10:00 am

Celebrity Coach Trip line-up revealed

Brendan's not in for an eay ride

The stars lined up for the second series of Celebrity Coach Trip have been announced by Channel 4.

Television legend Michael Barrymore, controversial X Factor contestant Wagner and Britain’s Got Talent’s Stavros Flatley are all among the stars set to join tour guide Brendan Sheerin for a two-week expedition around the Mediterranean.

During the trip, Barrymore apparently manages to fall off a horse and get into a foul-mouthed argument with a French waiter.

According to The Mirror, the former Strike It Rich host squared up to a French waiter before calling him a “c***”.

His spokesman confirmed the allegations, but insisted that his behaviour was a side effect of the medication he has been prescribed since falling off the horse.

Joining Barrymore on the journey will be ex-WAG Alex Best, Liberal Democrat MP Lembit Opik, Big Brother 8 star Brian Belo and model Emma B.

Along the way, Brendan will also welcome horse racing pundit John McCririck and his wife Jenny, as well as comic Stan Boardman and his daughter, Andrea.

As in previous Coach Trip series, the celebs will only get to keep on enjoying the trip as long as they remain popular with their fellow passengers, as every day ends in the dreaded yellow card vote.

Two yellow cards and the celebs have to pack their designer luggage and head home, to be replaced by new famous faces.

Celebrity Coach trip starts on 10 October at 5pm on Channel 4.

 

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