World Screen

LONDON: BBC Two and BBC Four have ordered a slew of science series, including one with Brian Cox and another with Eddie Izzard. Headed to BBC Two is Human Universe, which explores different aspects of life on Earth with Professor Brian Cox. There is also Castles in the Sky, a factual drama …

LONDON: John Hay, who first joined Channel 4 last year, has become the network's new commissioning editor for arts. In his new role, Hay will work under Ralph Lee, the head of factual for Channel 4. His duties will include finding new projects and overseeing the upcoming 2014 arts commissions …

This interview originally appeared in the MIPCOM 2013 issues of TV Europe and World Screen. Modern Times Group (MTG) operates 60 branded channels in 37 countries and has the largest broadcasting footprint in Europe. Present in the Nordic region, Eastern Europe, the Baltics and Russia, MTG has been gaining market …

LONDON: BBC One has lined up three new titles, Our Girl, Grey Mates and Inside KFC, for broadcast in 2014. Starring Lacey Turner, Our Girl is a 5×1-hour drama series from BBC Drama Production about a woman who becomes a soldier in the Royal Army Medical Corps. Hat Trick Productions' …

LONDON: Google has secured an agreement with HBO to make shows such as Game of Thrones and Boardwalk Empire available on its TV service, Google Play, in the U.K. The digital marketplace will stock the first three seasons of Game of Thrones and Boardwalk Empire, the first six seasons of …

LONDON: A 90-minute biopic about the comedy duo Laurel and Hardy is being produced by the BBC's in-house comedy department in association with The Weinstein Company and Lookout Point. The feature, titled Stan and Ollie, will tell the story of the pair's U.K. tour in 1953, which wound up being …

LONDON: Channel 4 is dedicating an entire evening, on December 28, to The IT Crowd, including airing a specially commissioned doc, The IT Crowd Manual. The night will kick off with The IT Crowd 2013 special The Internet is Coming at 9 p.m. This will be followed up at 10 …

LONDON: BBC One has commissioned a 7×30-minute third season of Citizen Khan, a family sitcom created by and starring Adil Ray. Citizen Khan is about a self-appointed community leader who has a wife and two daughters. The show is filmed on location in Birmingham in front of a studio audience. …

LONDON: Sky Store, an on-demand movie rental service that was previously only available for Sky customers, has been opened up to everyone in the U.K. and Ireland. Recent film releases such as Man of Steel, The Hangover Part 3, Despicable Me 2 and The Lone Ranger are now available for …

LONDON: Angela Neillis has left her role as the head of acquisitions at Sky Vision to join FremantleMedia International (FMI) as director of non-scripted, replacing Niki Page, who is headed to Sky Vision to fill Neillis' post. Neillis will now be responsible for overseeing non-scripted content both from FremantleMedia's production …