BBC Scotland’s River City Changes Format

The drama River City is shifting to a new multi-season format after the summer on BBC iPlayer, BBC Scotland and BBC One Scotland.

From October 23, River City will air as three distinct seasons a year with breaks of six weeks in between. Each season will run for 11 weeks, twice-weekly with new episodes premiering every Monday on BBC iPlayer.

Gavin Smith, commissioning executive for BBC Scotland, said: “This new format allows the production team the chance to delve deeper in to storylines and create more ‘must-see’ moments, which River City has become renowned for. When the series returns in October, Montego Street will have had a mini makeover and we’ll be introducing the first of three new characters so there will be lots for the River City fans to look forward to when it returns in the autumn.”

Louise Thornton, head of commissioning for BBC Scotland, added: “BBC Scotland is very proud of River City and we know it has an incredibly loyal audience who tune in to follow the drama in Shieldinch every week. That drama will continue but we are changing the broadcast pattern to allow us to keep delivering value to all licence fee payers whilst at the same time bringing more dramatic storylines to Montego Street.”

Martin McCardie, BBC Studios series producer for River City, said: “‘We are all excited by the new format changes to River City. It means we can be more ambitious with stories and can develop the series to reflect Scotland in 2023 and beyond.”