Raft of Factual Commissions for BBC Channels

LONDON: BBC has given the go-ahead to a slew of factual programs across all its channels, ranging from documentaries to natural history, specialist factual and features.

For BBC One, commissions include the 2×1-hour Raw production The Doctor Who Gave Up Drugs and the hour-long special The Age of Loneliness, from Wellpark Productions. BBC Two sees a trio of new titles: the 2×1-hour Operation Burma, produced by Arrow Media; the 2×1-hour Boundless doc Cats vs Dogs; and Rick Stein’s Long Weekends, which will be made up of two 5×1-hour seasons.

BBC Three went for the hour-long Sundog production Reggie Yates’ Extreme UK and the 8×30-minute series Rent A Cop, created by BBC In-house Creative Label. Meanwhile, BBC Four will present The Cliff: A Year in the Avian Life of the Shiant Isles, a 2×1-hour title by Keo North; the hour-long Hidden Killers of the Post-War Home, produced by Modern Television; and the feature-length documentaries Storyville: Dreamcatcher and Storyville: Cartel Land.

“The commissions I am announcing today demonstrate the scale and ambition of factual across the BBC,” said Alison Kirkham, BBC’s controller for factual commissioning. “Over the next year, we want to continue delivering great content to audiences and to attract the best program makers to produce work they are proud of alongside our commissioning teams.”