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EDINBURGH: HISTORY UK has commissioned the one-off docudrama Bannockburn (working title), produced by Sky Vision and Canada’s Arcadia Content. The two-hour project will be done using fast-paced, graphic novel-style dramatic reconstruction and historical analysis. It will look at the greatest battlefield mystery of the Middle Ages, when the Scottish force …

LONDON: BBC Two and BBC Four have ordered a number of tentatively titled series spanning such genres as drama, factual and comedy. Titles headed to BBC Two include 37 Days, a factual drama starring Ian McDiarmid, Sinead Cusack, Tim Pigott-Smith, Bill Paterson and Kenneth Cranham; Idris Elba: King of Speed, a …

LONDON: New TV viewing figures from Thinkbox reveal that 98.5 percent of television viewing is still done on the traditional TV set in the U.K., while 1.5 percent is on other screens such as tablets and mobile devices. The average daily TV viewing in the U.K. (during January to June 2013) was …

LONDON: ITV2 has acquired the new U.S. comedy Mom, from executive producer Chuck Lorre (The Big Bang Theory), along with the past seasons of Lorre’s Two and a Half Men. Mom stars Anna Faris as a single mother, Christy, whose newly found sobriety has given her a new lease on …

LONDON: ITV has commissioned the three-part drama Prey, starring John Simm, alongside announcing renewals for the Ian McKellen and Derek Jacobi comedy Vicious as well as The Job Lot and Plebs. In Prey, Simm will play Detective Constable Marcus Farrow, a cop and husband with two kids. His world falls …

LONDON: UKTV has commissioned Crackanory, a satirical show featuring Harry Enfield, Jack Dee, Sally Phillips and Richard Hammond, for broadcast on its entertainment channel Dave. Produced by Tiger Aspect Productions, Crackanory will watch as a variety of U.K. personalities take part in comedic storytelling. The 6×40-minute series includes a combination …

LONDON: Dame Judi Dench and Dustin Hoffman have been lined up to lead the cast of Roald Dahl’s Esio Trot, a 90-minute movie for Endor Productions and BBC One that is slated to begin filming next year in London. Roald Dahl’s Esio Trot revolves around Mr Hoppy, a retired bachelor …

EDINBURGH: ITV has been named channel of the year at this year’s Edinburgh International TV Festival, while Broadchurch won the new program award. The 12th annual conference awards was hosted by Dara O Briain. The event named ITV as the channel of the year, reclaiming the win from last year’s honoree, …

LONDON: Zai Bennett, the controller of BBC Three, has announced a raft of new commissions for the channel, including Siblings, a comedy from the company that made The Inbetweeners. Also in the way of comedy/entertainment programming is the one-hour Seann Walsh’s Late Night Comedy Spectacular, featuring rising superstar Seann Walsh. The …

LONDON: Joonas Hytönen, previously the head of entertainment and executive producer at Moskito Television Oy, has been named CEO of Banijay Finland, formerly known as Solar Television. Hytönen became Moskito’s head of entertainment in 2010. He has sold and executive produced hit series such as Dancing on Ice, Survivor, Kitchen …