VisionTV Reveals New Lineup

TORONTO, August 14: The Canadian multi-faith and
multicultural network VisionTV has unveiled its new drama-focused schedule for
the 2007-2008 season, featuring more than 25 different drama series each week.

VisionTV is also introducing a new brand positioning
statement “Expect More,” that will be highlighted in all network advertising
throughout the season.

The new schedule is headlined by the prime-time premiere of
the BBC drama series Rough Diamond, which
is set in rural Ireland and stars Conor Mullen as Aidan Doherty, a struggling
young horse trainer whose plans to sell off the family stables and begin a new
life are turned upside down by the arrival of an unexpected stranger: a son he
never knew he had. Returning prime-time dramas include Doc Martin, with an encore presentation of the first and second
seasons to begin airing September 5. The third season will premiere in January
2008. The series stars Martin Clunes as the irascible Dr. Martin Ellingham, a
socially challenged London surgeon who relocates to a sleepy Cornish village,
only to find that his urban attitude clashes with the cheerfully eccentric ways
of the locals. The comedy-drama Life Begins also returns, with an encore presentation of the second season starting November 19,
and the third season premiering in 2008. The series stars Caroline Quentin (Men Behaving Badly, Blue Murder) as a middle-aged mother of two who’s forced to reboot her entire life
when her husband abruptly walks out. The seventh season of the Australian drama
McLeod’s Daughters, is also
slated to premiere in spring 2008. The series follows the strong-willed women
of Drovers Run as they contend with their turbulent personal lives and the
daily challenge of running a cattle ranch in the wilds of the Aussie outback.

The VisionTV Family Block, showcasing hour-long family
dramas every weekday from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m., will feature the return of series
like 7th Heaven, I’ll Fly Away, Everwood, Party of Five and Emily of New Moon. New additions to the block include Doc and Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman, both launching September 3. Finally, Dawson’s
Creek, the acclaimed teen drama from creator Kevin
Williamson (Scream), airs on
Wednesdays starting from September 5 at 7 p.m.

VisionTV is also presenting a full hour of British comedy
weeknights at 8 p.m. Comedies like Dinnerladies, ‘Allo, 'Allo!, Yes,
Prime Minister and Eyes Down are joined this season by new titles such as Waiting
for God, which begins airing September 3
and follows two elderly eccentrics at the Bayview Retirement Village who refuse
to grow old gracefully; and Sorry! launching
September 5, which stars Ronnie Corbett (The Two Ronnies) as Timothy Lumsden, a single, fortysomething
librarian still living at home, trapped under the thumb of his domineering
mother played by Barbara Lott.

The network also plans to offer up classic movies from the
past and present in prime time every Tuesday and Thursday, with new titles this
season to include Annie Hall, The
Black Stallion, The Cotton Club, Dances with Wolves, The Man in the Iron Mask, New York, New York, Of Mice and Men and Yentl.

A range of factual programming is also on VisionTV’s
schedule. These include the premiere of the documentary series Medicine
Woman on September 3 at 10 p.m., which
follows Dr. Daniele Behn Smith, a Canadian First Nations physician, on a
journey around the world, in a quest to meet the indigenous folk healers,
shamans, herbalists and mystics who preserve the ancient secrets of natural
healing. Convictions offers a
glimpse into the lives of men and women of faith who are driven to make a
difference in the world. The factual slate also includes the four-part series The
Protestant Revolution, a VisionTV/BBC Four
co-production, and the documentary Charging the Rhino by Simcha Jacobovici—the acclaimed filmmaker
behind The Lost Tomb of Jesus.
Returning factual series include Recreating Eden, The Naked Archaeologist and the weekly anthology series Enigma.

Mark Prasuhn, VisionTV’s COO and senior VP of programming,
commented: “Our viewers have told us that they want more of these genres. They
want high-quality dramas and comedies that entertain and inspire. We have
answered that demand, in a way that may change many people’s perception of the
network.”