Channel 4 Bulks Up Fall Schedule

LONDON: New drama serials, as well as a selection of comedies and factual shows, have been added to Channel 4’s fall schedule.

Morgana Robinson headlines the new comedy The Morgana Show, heading to a prime-time slot. Also in the comedy arena, the new six-part Frankie Boyle’s Tramadol Nights combines stand up with pre-filmed sketches.

The doc series Seven Days in Notting Hill allows viewers to follow the lives of a variety of characters as it all actually happens. Wedding House also is in the factual vein. The show watches as a team of experts take over a country manor to play host to wedding ceremonies for 50 couples. Following on the success of This Is England, Shane Meadows revisits the lives of Shaun, Woody, Lol and the rest of the gang in the four-parter This Is England ’86.

Any Human Heart is William Boyd’s adaptation of his best-selling novel, with an all-star cast led by Hayley Atwell, Natasha Little, Emerald Fennell, Ed Stoppard, Samuel West and Kim Cattrall alongside Gillian Anderson and Tom Hollander. Katie Piper returns for a new four-part documentary series, Katie: My Beautiful Friends. Peter Tatchell presents an hour-long examination of Pope Benedict XVI in The Pope (working title).

Adding action to the lineup, The Event is a conspiracy thriller that will make its U.K. premiere on Channel 4 just weeks after its U.S. debut. Also on the roster, Coppers (working title) provides unprecedented access to four police forces, revealing what it’s really like to be on the front line today in Britain. Alan Davies’ Teenage Revolution uses archive footage and home videos to tall the social history of Davies’ own experiences growing up in suburban Britain.

Exactly two years ahead of the London 2012 Paralympic Games kickoff, Channel 4 has slated Inside Incredible Athletes, which profiles elite British athletes from both a personal and scientific perspective. There’s also a brand-new magazine show, Food (working title), which features presenters Jay Rayner, Anna Richardson and reporter Ravinder Bhogal providing information for viewers on the food they buy and where it comes from. Staying in the cooking genre, Gordon Ramsay and Jamie Oliver both have new shows on Channel 4, with Ramsay’s Best Restaurant and Jamie’s Thirty Minute Meals, respectively.

Robert Webb is to front Robert’s Web, a new comedy show offering an alternative take on the week’s online news. Web also returns alongside David Mitchell in Peep Show, a sitcom entering a record-breaking seventh season on Channel 4. Further comedy highlights include The Inbetweeners, as well as the Comedy Showcase success PhoneShop, set for E4. More4 will also feature a Comedy Showcase alumni, The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret.

Rounding out the slate are Hollyoaks, as well as the companion Hollyoaks Later. A new season of Misfits is also on the grid for E4.

Julian Bellamy, the acting chief creative officer at Channel 4, said: “This is an exciting time for Channel 4 as we enter a period of creativity and innovation with more freedom to try new things. We’re putting brand new comedy talent Morgana in the heart of the schedule, we’ve backed major dramas including Shane Meadows’ stunning TV debut and the sumptuous Any Human Heart, and we’ve got the hottest show from America this season, The Event.

"Add to this big, ambitious factual shows reflecting modern Britain in a way that has not been done before, Seven Days in Notting Hill, Coppers and Wedding House, Peter Tatchell on the Pope and key talent Katie Piper launching her first full series on the channel.”