Press Releases

Second series of Bananas in Pyjamas coming to Channel 5

admin — Mon, 14 May 2012 14:53:12 +0100

Channel 5 today announced a brand new series of the much-loved children’s series; Bananas in Pyjamas, coming to Milkshake next year!

The 3D CGI animation series of programmes will again be voiced by the popular comedic double act Dick (Richard McCourt) and Dom (Dominic Wood) as well as Milkshake’s very own Jen Pringle.

The series is produced by Endemol’s Southern Star Entertainment and Southern Star Singapore in association with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. The series is distributed by ABC Commercial in Australia, New Zealand and Asia with Endemol distributing throughout the rest of the world. . This new series will launch Summer 2013.

Jessica Symons, Head of Children’s at Channel 5 commented:

“The first series of Bananas in Pyjamas has already been a great success. The Bananas are a big hit with our young viewers and a fantastic addition to Milkshake’s excellent roster of preschool heroes!”

Cathy Payne, Chief Executive, Endemol Worldwide Distribution commented:

“Endemol are delighted to be producing a second season of Bananas in Pyjamas and that Channel 5 have once again come on board to support the series.”

Since first airing in July 1992 as suited characters, Bananas in Pyjamas has been a phenomenal success not only in Australia, but in more than 70 countries and it continues to be loved by preschoolers around the world. Now they are back, with new stories, new laughs and new songs that will delight audiences everywhere as B1 and B2, their adorable friends the Teddies and the ever mischievous Rat in a Hat, adventure their way through the magical world of Cuddlestown.

The first series launched in the UK in July 2011 on Channel 5’s Milkshake.

Internationally Bananas in Pyjamas has already sold to Pan Asia (Disney Channel), EMEA (Cartoonito, Boomerang, CN Arabic & Boom PAN), Hong Kong (TVB Pearl), Ireland (RTE 2), Latin America (Discovery Kids), New Zealand (TV3), Philippines (ABS-CBN), Singapore (OKTO Kids), Thailand (BBTV) and United Kingdom (Channel 5).

~End~

Note to Editors:

ABOUT MILKSHAKE!

Channel 5’s Milkshake is home to some of the World’s favourite preschool characters. There is a range of stimulating and engaging programmes that include strong story led animation, genuine documentaries for preschoolers and presenter led high quality musical entertainment. Channel 5 broadcasts 24 hours of children's programmes every week. Milkshake is on air from 0600- 0915 every weekday and 0600 – 10.00 on Saturday and Sunday.

For more information, visit

www.channel5.com/milkshake

For further information please contact:

Channel 5 Press Office
Julie Miller
julie.miller@five.tv
Direct Line: 020 8612 7751

Endemol PR
Shannon Becker
shannon.becker@endemol.com
Direct Line: +612 9202 8504

Peppa Pig’s Royal Appoinkment!

admin — Tue, 01 May 2012 11:15:12 +0100

Today Channel 5 announced that two British icons will unite this year when Peppa Pig pays homage to the Diamond Jubilee with a special episode starring Her Majesty the Queen. It will mark the first time in the show’s history that a human character will be featured in the series.

In the upcoming episode, Miss Rabbit is selected to receive an award from the Queen for all the hard work she does and Peppa and friends accompany her on an unforgettable visit to the Palace where they meet the Queen.

This much anticipated episode will transmit on Channel 5’s milkshake! at 8.15am on Monday 4th June when the milkshake presenter will be joined in the studio by a Peppa Pig costume character for a Jubilee party! This special episode starts a run of 13 brand new Peppa Pig episodes on milkshake, weekdays at 8.15am.

Families keen to join in milkshake’s Jubilee celebrations at home will be able to download for free, a range of fun party and activity assets from the milkshake website www.channel5.com/milkshake.There will be a Peppa Pig royal themed colouring sheet, party invitation and guides to create your own cut out and keep bunting, flag and party hat. There will also be a special online Peppa Pig competition running from Monday 4th June, to coincide with the Jubilee weekend and launch of the new episodes, with lots of Peppa Pig goodies up for grabs. For more information visit the milkshake website.

Phil Davies, Producer of Peppa Pig said, “As a British production it’s only fitting that Peppa Pig pays tribute to the Queen and we couldn’t resist the opportunity to put her into the show. We hope that everyone enjoys watching the episode as much as we enjoyed making it and that it gets kids into the Jubilee party spirit!”

So put up the bunting, get the tea set ready and settle down to celebrate the Jubilee with Peppa Pig on milkshake!

Notes to Editors:

milkshake! (Channel 5):

About milkshake!

Channel 5’s milkshake! is home to some of the World’s favourite preschool characters. There is a range of stimulating and engaging programmes that include strong story led animation, genuine documentaries for preschoolers and presenter led high quality musical entertainment.

Channel 5 broadcasts 24 hours of children's programmes every week. Milkshake! is on air from 0600- 0915 every weekday and 0600 – 10.00 on Saturday and Sunday.

For more information, visit www.channel5.com/milkshake

Press Information:

Channel 5 Press Office

Julie Miller - julie.miller@five.tv

Licence to PR

Diana Veysey - diana@licensetopr.co.uk

Tel: 020 7637 4660

Hoteliers of Britain beware - Alex Polizzi is back!

admin — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 09:19:04 +0100

Channel 5 and Twofour today announce the return of a brand new series of The Hotel Inspector to transmit this Summer.

In the ninth series of Twofour’s long running Channel 5 show, acclaimed hotelier Alex Polizzi is back on her quest to transform some of Britain’s most desperate hotels and B&Bs into successful business concerns. From a naturist hotel in a residential suburb of Birmingham, to a grand hotel in Eastbourne run by a flamboyant real-life Sheikh, to a 600 year-old Inn in St Albans supposedly haunted by a Tudor ghost, Alex is faced with some of her biggest challenges yet.

Along the way, The Hotel Inspector encounters eye-popping décor, questionable cleanliness, and families fighting amongst themselves. She’s also tasked with turning round the fortunes of a hotel described by one reviewer as The Fawlty Towers of Essex.

Ian Dunkley, Channel 5 Commissioning Editor for Factual Entertainment said: “It’s great to have Alex back doing what she does best - dispensing her unique brand of no-nonsense advice in the face of some true hotel horrors.”

Twofour’s MD Melanie Leach said: "We're thrilled to be working with Alex and Channel 5 on another series of Hotel Inspector and are looking forward to unleashing a few surprises on the nation’s most hapless hoteliers."

Alex Polizzi said; “ I am delighted to be returning as the Hotel Inspector for this new series. As ever, I promise to expose the real problems within the hotel industry and possibly a little more besides. Maybe viewers will get the chance to see my cheeky side too!”

Alex is also set to revisit two hotels from previous series - the African Queen, a floating canal boat on the Thames, and the Walpole Bay in Margate – to see whether her words have been turned into profits.

~End~

NOTES TO EDITORS:

• Channel 5’s Commissioning Editor – Ian Dunkley

• 10 x 1 hour Episodes

• Production Company – Twofour

• Series Producer - Kent Upshon

• Executive Producers - Neil Edwards and Melanie Leach

• Production Manager - Siobhan Brook

For further information please contact:

Julie Miller
Publicity Manager
Channel 5

T: 020 8612 7751 E: julie.miller@five.tv

Or

Stephanie Faber
Director
Faber & Bishopp PR

E: steph@faberbishopp.co.uk
M: 07753 827777
www.faberbishopp.co.uk

twitter: @faberbishopp

Tamara Bishopp
Director
Faber & Bishopp PR

E: tamara@faberbishopp.co.uk
M: 07769 707010
www.faberbishopp.co.uk
A: 16 Winchester Walk London SE1 9AQ
twitter: @faberbishopp

milkshake! nationwide theatre tour announced

admin — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 09:28:32 +0100

Today Channel 5 and Premier Stage Productions are proud to announce the brand new milkshake! live tour.

The all-singing, all-dancing live stage show will be visiting theatres up and down the country, in a 12 month tour starting this summer.

Starring milkshake! favourites, Little Princess and Scruff, Noddy and Tessie Bear, Roary and Big Chris, Fifi and Bumble and B1 & B2 – the Bananas in Pyjamas, this musical spectacular is sure to have children tapping their toes, clapping their hands and singing at the top of their voices.

Joining this fantastic line up will be two milkshake! presenters, who will take us on a magical milkshake! adventure which is bound to dazzle and delight.

In the milkshake! live show your favourite milkshake! friends come out to play! But when the time comes to go home they find themselves stuck outside the TV. Come and join them and then make sure they get back to milkshake! in time for the morning show.

The show features new songs, classic favourites and funky dance moves, plus plenty of laughter, bags of audience interaction and bucket loads of fun for all the family too.

For more information visit: www.channel5.com/milkshake

–

Press Information:

Channel 5 Press Office:

Julie Miller - julie.miller@five.tv
Direct Line: 020 8612 7751

Premier Stage Productions:
Lucy Deacon - marketing@premier-productions.co.uk

For regional press enquires please contact:

Debbie Bennett

Bennett Public Relations

E: debbie@bennettpr.com

T: +44 (0) 20 8451 3661

M:+44 (0) 7534 927784

TOUR DATES:

July

Saturday 21 - Epsom, Playhouse

Sunday 22 - Skegness, Embassy

Saturday 28 - Rhyl, Pavillion

August

Wednesday 1 and Thursday 2 - Plymouth, Pavillions

Wednesday 8 - Tewkesbury - The Roses

Friday 10 - Middlesborough Theatre

Saturday 18 - New Brighton, Floral Pavillion

Tuesday 21 and Wednesday 22 - Radlett, Centre

Thursday 23 - Croydon, Ashcroft Theatre

Saturday 25 - Gravesend, Woodville Halls

Monday 27 - Buxton, Opera House

Wednesday 29 - Swindon, Wyvern Theatre

Thursday 30 - Swansea, Grand

September

Saturday 1 - Hull - New Theatre

Sunday 2 - Stevenage - Gordon Craig

Monday 3 - Worthing - Connaught Theatre

Saturday 8 - Aldershot - Princes Hall

Saturday 15 - Cardiff - St Davids Hall

Sunday 16 - Weston - Playhouse

Saturday 22 - Hereford - Courtyard Theatre

Sunday 23 - St Helens - Theatre Royal

Saturday 29 - Harlow - Playhouse

Sunday 30 - Margate - Winter Gardens

October

Sunday 7 - Southsea, Kings Theatre

Saturday 13 - Llandudno, Venue Cymru

Saturday 20 - Dorking, Dorking Halls

Saturday 27 - Mansfield, Palace

Sunday 28 - Carlisle, The Sands Centre

Monday 29 - Billingham, Forum

Tuesday 30 - Scarborough, Spa Theatre

Wednesday 31 - Stafford, Gatehouse

November

Friday 2 - Port Talbot, Princess Royal Theatre

Saturday 3 - Kings Lynn, Corn Exchange

Sunday 4 - Felixstowe, Spa Theatre

Saturday 10 - Stourbridge, Dudley Concert Hall

Sunday 11 - Rotherham, Civic Theatre

Saturday 17 - Hayes, Beck

February 2013

Saturday 2 - Blackpool, Grand

Wednesday 3 - Yeovil, Octagon Theatre

Thursday 14 - Salisbury, City Hall

Friday 15 - Wellingborough, Castle

Saturday 16 and Sunday 17, Dartford, Orchard Theatre

Wednesday 20 - Shrewsbury, Theatre Severn

Thursday 21 - Lincoln, Lpac

Saturday 23 - Camberley, Camberley Theatre

Sunday 24 - Porthcawl, Grand Pavillion

March 2013

Saturday 9 and Sunday 10 - Hall For Cornwall

Saturday 23 - Clacton, West Cliff Theatre

April 2013

Friday 5 - Bedworth, Civic

Saturday 6 - Stockport, Plaza

Sunday 7 - Dumfries, Dgone

Monday 8 - Motherwell, Theatre & Concert Hall

Tuesday 9 - Glenrothes, Rothes Hall

Wednesday 10 - Dunfermline, Alhambra

Thursday 11 - Arbroath, Webster Memorial Hall

Saturday 13 - Barrow, Forum 28

June 2013

Sunday 2 - Whitley Bay, Playhouse

Abby’s Flying Fairy School Sprinkles Some Fairy Dust onto milkshake!

admin — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 10:09:50 +0100

Channel 5 today announced Abby’s Flying Fairy School, an exciting new 3D CGI animated series.

The show marks the first time a Sesame Street character has been transformed into CGI animation and is an innovative and exciting development in children’s television. Abby’s amazing new 3-D look, has been created by Peter De Séve, the designer for the film Ice Age.

The series follows Sesame Street’s well loved Abby Cadabby, and an eclectic gang of new friends – including genies, trolls, giants, imps and a pet ‘gerbilcorn’ called Niblet.

We meet Abby’s new classmates; Blögg and Gonnigan, as well as Ms. Sparklenose – their very wise and very tiny teacher. These are not your average fairies; Abby’s mother happens to be THE Fairy Godmother and her babysitter is of course - Snow White! Lessons includes: day trips to the zoo – to feed the dragons, visits from Captain Hook and Tooth Fairy Tests.

Together, the fairies-in-training learn that it takes rhyming, twinkle thinking and a helping hand (or wand) to resolve dilemmas.

Abby’s Flying Fairy School is already an award winning show. The series picked up the Best Animated Series award in the preschool category and Best Preschool Programme in the viewer’s choice category at the 2012 Kidscreen Awards.

Jessica Symons, Head of Children’s, Channel 5 Milkshake, commented:
“Sesame has really pulled the rabbit out of the hat with Abby’s Flying Fairy School! It is original, hilarious and beautifully produced. Abby will be a fantastic addition to Milkshake’s brilliant array of preschool heroes and she is sure to dazzle and enchant our young audience. ’’

Renee Mascara, Vice President, International Media Distribution, Sesame Workshop, commented: “We are thrilled to introduce preschoolers to Abby and her eclectic group of friends who learn that by working together they’re able to solve problems—all the while having fun!”

Abby’s Flying Fairy School launches on Sunday 29th April on milkshake!

~End~

Notes to Editors:

About milkshake!

Channel 5’s milkshake! is home to some of the World’s favourite preschool characters. There is a range of stimulating and engaging programmes that include strong story led animation, genuine documentaries for preschoolers and presenter led high quality musical entertainment.

Channel 5 broadcasts 24 hours of children's programmes every week. Milkshake! is on air from 0600- 0915 every weekday and 0600 – 10.00 on Saturday and Sunday.

For more information, visit www.channel5.com/milkshake Press Information: Channel 5 Press Office Julie Miller - julie.miller@five.tv

About Sesame Workshop: Sesame Street and Abby’s Flying Fairy School are produced by Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit educational organization that revolutionized children’s television programming. The Workshop produces local Sesame Street programs seen in over 150 countries and content for multiple media platforms to help children and families develop critical skills, acquire healthy habits and build emotional strength. For more information, visit www.sesamestreet.org

Channel 5 sign two-year deal with Endemol UK to broadcast Big Brother

admin — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 12:17:02 +0100

Channel 5 can today announce that they have signed a new two-year deal with Initial, an Endemol company, for exclusive rights to broadcast Big Brother until the end of 2014.

The series has proven to be huge ratings hit for the channel and a firm favourite with reality TV fans. Since Big Brother’s launch on Channel 5 in 2011, five million new viewers have come to the Channel 5 family.

The launch show of Celebrity Big Brother in August 2011 was the most popular commissioned show in the channel’s 15-year history. Celebrity Big Brother has averaged three million viewers during its two runs.

While Celebrity Big Brother was on air (2011 & 2012 series), Channel 5 was the most popular commercial channel amongst young people across the 9.00pm - 11.00pm slot. .
The first ‘classic’ series of public Big Brother (September 2011) averaged 1.7m over its 10-week run, with viewing to the 9-11pm slot increasing by 54% amongst 16-34 year olds.

In addition, during the traditional summer run of Big Brother this year, Channel 5 will also be airing a second celebrity series of 2012 following the ‘classic’ series. Brian Dowling will be returning to present the main live show.

Big Brother’s spin-off show ‘Bit On the Side’ will also be returning with host Emma Willis. TV’s most iconic voiceover artist Marcus Bentley will also be returning to report on the housemates’ antics!

Internationally 25 series of Big Brother were broadcast in 87 countries in 2011 and the format continues to be a breakout hit in the major markets including the USA, France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Latin America and in Central and Eastern Europe.

Jeff Ford, Director of Programmes, Channel 5 said: “We’re hugely excited to have secured the return of Big Brother for Channel 5 which will continue to form a key part our programming schedule. The show so far has captivated the energy and vibrancy of the channel and we are looking forward to continuing this successful relationship.”

Nick Samwell-Smith, Creative Director of Initial comments: "We are delighted with the success of Big Brother on Channel 5. The show continues to thrive and I'm thrilled to be renewing our partnership with the channel for another two years."

Channel 5’s Head of Factual Entertainment, Steve Gowans, will oversee the new series of Big Brother.

The series will continue to be filmed in its original home of Elstree Film Studios, produced by Endemol UK production arm Initial.

Notes to Editors
For all the latest about Channel 5, follow us at twitter.com/channel5press

For further information please contact Carly Beake (nee Coughlan), Head of Channel 5 Publicity at The Outside Organisation, 0207 436 3633 or carly.beake@outside-org.co.uk

Channel 5 was launched as Britain's fifth and final terrestrial broadcaster in March 1997. In July 2010, the network was sold to British media powerhouse Northern & Shell and it currently attracts well over 30 million viewers a week. Channel 5 is the destination for must see entertainment, sport, documentary, kids, drama, film and news output. Pivotal channel programming includes a diverse mix to attract viewers of all age, including the Extraordinary People and Revealed strands, Cowboy Builders, The Hotel Inspector, The Gadget Show, Home and Away, Neighbours, 5 News as well as the award winning children's strand, Milkshake! In addition it is the terrestrial home of all England Cricket summer Internationals. Joining their highly successful crime drama franchises in 2012 are two big new US acquisitions – fantasy drama Once Upon A Time and the hugely anticipated return of a revamped 21st century Dallas.

Killers Behind Bars: The Untold Story

admin — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 11:25:52 +0100

Channel 5 today announced a brand new commission, Killers Behind Bars: The Untold Story. This ground-breaking 3-part series looks to uncover the true scale of the crimes committed by some of the country’s most notorious serial killers.

In the past 5 years alone the UK has witnessed three serial killers sentenced to over 100 years behind bars for some of the most terrifying crimes this country has ever seen. These programmes follow real-life ‘Cracker’, Professor David Wilson, as he uses the latest in cutting-edge criminology techniquesto link more unsolved murders to these convicted monsters.

With access to the investigating police officers, interview tapes and crime scenes in each case, Professor Wilson examines their known crimes in detail, before building up a detailed profile and Modus Operandi (MO) of each killer.

He then applies the latest techniques to compare them to other unsolved crimes that he believes should also be attributed to these notorious murderers. Meeting some of the country’s leading crime experts along the way he uses the science of criminology to take an intimate look inside the minds of these monsters. With this evidence, he hopes to prove beyond reasonable doubt that their known crimes are simply the tip of the iceberg. The results are often shockingly clear.

He’ll be studying the cases of Peter Tobin, serving three life terms for the murders of 3 women; Robert Black, dubbed ‘Britain’s most prolific child murderer’ serving 5 life terms and most recently, ‘The Suffolk Strangler’ Steve Wright, imprisoned for life for the murder of 5 prostitutes. All have been captured, yetmore than 10 other murders are attributed to these 3 alone, with Tobin once boasting of killing “...at least 48”.

Professor Wilson is the UK’s leading expert on serial killers, author of over 15 books including ‘A History of British Serial Killing’ and Head of Criminology at Birmingham City University.

Producer Rory Wheeler says: “This is an entirely fresh approach to crime that’s found a perfect home on Channel 5. It’s real-life psychological CSI, proving that truth is so much darker than fiction.”

Michelle Chappell, Commissioning Editor of News, Current Affairs and Documentaries added: “This is a new approach to the crime genre which will blow the lid off what we think we know about our killers behind bars.”

Note to Editors:

The programme is produced by Popkorn TV Ltd
3 x 60 minute episodes
Channel 5 Commissioning Editor – Michelle Chappell

For further press information contact:

Julie Miller

Channel 5 Press Office
Tel: 020 8612 7751 or julie.miller@five.tv or victoria.shires@outside-org.co.uk

The Great Falklands Gamble: Revealed

admin — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 16:32:39 +0000

Falklands War Commander: Loss of islands would be a "betrayal" - and how Argentina could have won in 1982

Major General Julian Thompson has made headlines today with his views on the vulnerability of the Falkland Islands to a future Argentinean attack. But in a new Channel 5 documentary going out next week he goes further, saying the loss of the islands would be a “betrayal” that “totally wasted” the “blood and sacrifice” of 30 years ago. And he also speaks candidly about the mistakes made during the war of 1982.

Major General Thompson (who was the brigadier of 3 Commando Brigade in 1982) is one of several senior military figures interviewed for The Great Falklands Gamble: Revealed. In the programme he says:

“We couldn’t do it again if the Argentines invaded tomorrow. We couldn’t retake them without a carrier and so they would be lost. It would be a huge betrayal if they were taken again because all that blood and sacrifice, and all that money we have spent defending them for the last 30 years would have been totally wasted.”

Elsewhere in the programme he reveals how close Britain came to losing the islands during the war of 1982:

“I always thought the Falklands victory on our part was close run. The more you know about what went on or what didn’t go on, the more you wonder at it. I think the Argentines could have won it had they played it right.”

Elsewhere in the film, Colonel Ivar Hellberg, (CO of the Commando Logistics Regiment at the time) says:

“We really had no understanding of how competent the Argentinian airforce actually was. Had the Argentinians actually really focus on the amphibious landing and had their intelligence being slightly better than it was they could have done us awful harm.”

And Hugh Bicheno, a British SIS agent in Buenos Aires prior to the war, says warning signs in the run-up to the war were missed:

“There had been every indication that the Argentines were rousing popular opinion in that direction – there had been good intelligence from the defence attache and from the SIS station of military preps. There should have been no doubt that the argentines were going to do something military. But foreign office policy was to sell out the islanders. They wanted to force the islanders into the arms of Argentina.”

The Great Falklands Gamble: Revealed is on Channel 5 on Tuesday 13th March at 8pm. The programme is a Quickfire Media production and the Executive Producer is Mark Fielder.

More about The Great Falklands Gamble: Revealed

Three decades on from victory in the Falklands War, most of us have forgotten just how close we came to defeat. This programme tells the story of how we nearly lost the islands – the risks run, the mistakes made, and the odds stacked against the troops on the ground. With contributions from senior officers and veterans of some of the bloodiest fighting, it sheds new light on just how unlikely – and extraordinary – their eventual victory was.

It’ll reveal how appalling weather, overstretched British air defences, poor communications and even incompetence put British forces on the back foot. There are also shocking accounts of British warships destroyed by Argentinian bombs, men burnt alive, bombs crashing through the decks of ships, night attacks up mountainous slopes and merciless hand-to-hand fighting, all made worse by unsuitable equipment and shortages of helicopters. It’ll show us the side of the war that’s since been forgotten, through the powerful and moving testimony of the men who were there.

Notes to Editors:
The Great Falklands Gamble: Revealed

About Revealed:
Revealed was launched in 2002 and quickly became one of the channel’s best-loved strands. The four films in the March run follow a successful autumn 2011 run that included Quickfire’s Mysteries of the Vampire Skeletons: Revealed and a series of one-off specials including Testimony Films’ Bomber Boys: Revealed, broadcast as part of the channel’s Remembrance Week.

About Channel 5 Factual:
Channel 5 attracts over 45m viewers per month and regularly outperforms its terrestrial competitors. Indeed, across the peak hours of 8-11pm in 2011, Channel 5 outperformed BBC TWO on more than 50 occasions and Channel 4 more than 60 times. The channel’s factual output commands particularly strong audiences. Recently, World’s Scariest Plane Crashes pulled in 1.9 million in the 8pm slot. 2011’s Royal Navy Caribbean Patrol averaged 2.1 million viewers at 9pm. Two parter Jack The Ripper: The Definitive Story averaged 1.8 million whilst Red Sea Jaws pulled in an average of 1.8 million and Amy Winehouse: The Untold Story averaged 1.4 million at 10pm. Long-running strand Extraordinary People also remains hugely popular – Losing One Of My Giant Legs delivered 2.1 million viewers in August 2011, beating BBC TWO and C4 across the hour, while The Woman Who Lost Her Face pulled in 1.9 million last October – again beating BBC TWO.

About Quickfire Media:
Quickfire Media is an independent production company with a long track record in making high-quality historical documentaries. These include The Last Tommy (3 x 60 for BBC ONE), In the Footsteps of Churchill (8 x 30 for BBC TWO), The Queen’s Coronation for Channel 4, Blackbeard’s Lost Pirate Ship for Channel 5 and WNET, the Virgin Queen’s Fatal Affair for Channel 5 and National Geographic, and The Wave that Destroyed Atlantis for BBC2 Timewatch and ARTE.

For further press information, contact:

Lesley Land

Channel 5 Press Office

aTel: 020 7436 3633 lesley.land@outside-org.co.uk

For all Channel 5 news, please follow www.twitter.com/channel5press

The Gadget Show: World Tour

admin — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 12:22:13 +0000

The Gadget Show rebooted for 2012!

Channel 5 today announced that The Gadget Show will return to our screens this Spring in a new, revamped format. The brand new series will take the show on the road, as presenters Jason Bradbury and Pollyanna Woodward travel the globe to test the latest in consumer gadgetry.

Each week The Gadget Show: World Tour will see Jason and Pollyanna undertake an international gadget road trip. From Abu Dhabi to Silicon Valley, from New York to Monaco, our pair of gadget experts will give their verdict on the very latest high-street tech, as well as stopping off to showcase more cutting-edge technology.

Ian Dunkley, Factual Entertainment Commissioner says, “After 16 successful series it felt time for the show to go global and have some more fun. Our love of gadgets remains undimmed, and now the testing will be bigger, better, and in more exotic locations.”

On its travels, the show will be visiting Japan, the USA, the Mediterranean, and the UAE to test the best smartphones, laptops, TV’s, gaming consoles and cameras on the market. In the first episode, the show lands in Tokyo in search of parts to build a winning robot for a robot fighting tournament.

NOTES TO EDITORS:

• Channel 5’s Commissioning Editor – Ian Dunkley

• Production Company – North One

• TX – April

• 16 Episodes

• Each episode is x1 hour duration

For further press information contact:

Julie Miller

Channel 5 Press Office

Tel: 020 8612 7751 or julie.miller@five.tv or victoria.shires@outside-org.co.uk

COWBOY TRADERS

admin — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 12:51:49 +0000

We’ve targeted the bad builders – now it’s time to round up the rest of the cowboys…

Today Channel 5 announced a brand new commission Cowboy Traders presented by consumer champions Dom Littlewood and Melinda Messenger.

For the past three years Channel 5 has exposed some of Britain’s worst, most unscrupulous and incompetent Cowboy Builders, bringing them to the attention of the authorities and rebuilding the homes of the victims whose lives they’ve ruined. However, the building trade isn’t the only industry that needs cleaning up. From dodgy car dealers to unscrupulous bridal shop owners to fly-by-night property landlords, Britain is awash with dishonest tradesmen all too happy to take your money and run.

Dom Littlewood and Melinda Messenger join forces again to clean up Britain one rogue at a time. And this time, they’ll also be making sure the authorities are doing enough to protect the public.

Ian Dunkley, Channel 5 Commissioning Editor for Factual Entertainment said: ‘The series will expose some of the worst business practices in Britain, show the devastating effect these can have on ordinary families, and help put things right for the victims.’

In each episode Dom will focus his efforts on one new consumer area – from retirement homes to property rentals to personal transport. Dom’s mission is to investigate the tradesmen and women in question and meet the victims of their scams. He’ll use his trademark blend of detective work, investigative journalism and undercover filming before finally coming face to face with the cowboy for a personal confrontation.

While investigating the rogues, Dom will build up a body of evidence to hand over to the relevant authorities. He’ll also take a broader look at how badly regulated some industries are and look at what regulatory bodies like Trading Standards and other government organizations can do about the problem.

While Dom’s dishing out just desserts to the rogues, Melinda takes on the task of helping the victims who’ve been left heartbroken and out of pocket. She’ll devise, organise and deliver them some way of getting back what they paid for.

The series is produced by Ricochet and the Executive Producer for the series is Rob Butterfield. Cowboy Traders will air on Channel 5 in March 2012.

~End~

Note to Editors:

Channel 5 Commissioner: Ian Dunkley

Produced by: Ricochet

Executive Producer: Rob Butterfield

TX: March 2012

Format: 6 x 60 minute series

For further information please contact:

Julie Miller, Publicity Manager on 020 8612 7751 or julie.miller@five.tv

Revealed back with Nazi Titanic and Sir Peter Jackson's Stunt Pilots

admin — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 10:53:30 +0000

Channel 5 today announced the spring run of one of its longest-running and most successful fixtures: the Revealed historical documentary strand. March 2012 will see the channel broadcast four powerful stand-alone stories, each with a brand new discovery at its heart.

The year’s first batch of Revealed documentaries launches with the bizarre tale of the forgotten propaganda film made by the Nazis about the sinking of the Titanic, and goes on to cover: an investigation (by the production company that made The King’s Speech) into the birth of the RAF that uses Oscar-winning director Peter Jackson’s fleet of replica WWI aeroplanes for spectacular airborne experiments; shocking new evidence of a cover-up following the massacre of hundreds of US troops on the Devon coast during WWII; and – on the eve of its 30th anniversary – a new and very personal insight into just how close we came to losing the Falklands War.

The run kicks off a great year for history on the channel. The spring Revealeds will be followed by Rory McGrath’s Pub Dig, in which Rory and archaeologist Paul Blinkhorn unearth massive Roman buildings, Neolithic hunting camps and Tudor dockyards beneath the picnic tables of the nation’s beer gardens. Two more major history series and several anniversary-related specials will be announced in coming months, and Revealed will be back for another run in the autumn.

John Hay, Commissioning Editor for Factual at Channel 5 comments, “History programming is absolutely central to Channel 5, and Revealed defines our approach to the genre. This run is full of simple, strong, unspun stories that deliver all the pleasure of a thriller or an action film while being packed full of proper scoops and shocking revelations along the way.”

______________________________

More about the programmes:

Nazi Titanic: Revealed tells the story of the forgotten 1942 blockbuster in which Nazi propagandists recast the famous disaster as a story of German courage and Allied weakness. If the script was far-fetched (it features a heroic German first officer whose warnings about an iceberg are foolishly ignored…), the story of the film’s production was more extraordinary still: a tale of power, betrayal, and perhaps even murder, which saw essential wartime resources diverted to the production, the director jailed and possibly executed on Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels’ orders, and – in the last days of the war – the sinking of the ship used for the filming. More died in that disaster than on the Titanic itself. Using Goebbels own diaries, unseen home movies shot behind-the-scenes during the production, the original production design book, the art director Maurischat's personal diary - also unpublished - this will be one of the year’s more surprising and unexpected ways of marking the original disaster’s 100th anniversary.

WWI Top Gun: Revealed reveals how aeroplanes won the First World War for the allies and marks another 100th anniversary – the foundation of the Royal Flying Corps, precursor to the RAF. But rather than focusing on the showboating pilots, this film uncovers how rival backroom mechanics battled to invent aerial warfare from scratch in just four years – a deadly race that rivaled the computer age for sheer speed of innovation. A bemused military establishment didn’t always realize their worth: a year before war broke out, the British turned down an approach from Anton Fokker, whose invention went on to put the Germans on top for most of the fighting. But these neglected geniuses set the template for all modern conflict. The film is being shot entirely in New Zealand in collaboration with The Vintage Aviators – Oscar-winning director Sir Peter Jackson’s fleet of replica WWI aircraft – by the production company that made The King’s Speech. It’ll tell its story, and do its historical detective work, through a series of dazzling airborne experiments.

In The Secret D-Day Scandal: Revealed, we uncover how a rehearsal for D-Day on a sleepy stretch of the Devon coast turned into a bloodbath resulting in the death of hundreds of allied soldiers – and uncover evidence of a cover-up that persists to this day. Exercise Tiger was the Allies' worst training disaster of the 20th century – a tragic combination of allied incompetence and enemy infiltration that was hushed up until 1984. But even the admissions made then may conceal the real truth. The official death toll remains 749. But in this film, we follow historian and retired policeman Richard Bass as he uncovers inconsistencies in the documentation and the official memorials, and talks to UK and US servicemen who survived and civilian witnesses – many of whom have never spoken before. Bass uses recently discovered top secret documents and film archive as well as underwater excavations to show that the official secrecy surrounding the disaster could conceal a death toll far higher the authorities have ever admitted.

Finally, in the run-up to the 30th anniversary of the Falklands War, we revisit the conflict through one man’s shocking experience in The Great Falklands Gamble: Revealed. Royal Marines company commander Ian R. Gardiner has never spoken publicly about his war but to see it through his eyes is to realise the enormous risk we ran in the South Atlantic, and to appreciate afresh the courage and resilience of the troops who ensured eventual victory. Appalling weather, patchy air defences, poor communications and even incompetence sometimes stacked the odds heavily against the British in an operation that the Americans had already decided was a military impossibility. But this very personal account will reveal how Gardiner and his colleagues overcame them. By explaining hair-raising realities of individual battles, it’ll shed new light on the victory that we all remember.

Notes to Editors:

Production credits:

The Nazi Titanic: Revealed is a Blink Films UK production and the Executive Producers are Stephen Marsh and Dan Chambers.

WWI: Top Gun: Revealed is made by Bedlam Productions and the Executive Producers are Simon Breen and Simon Egan.

The Secret D-Day Scandal: Revealed is made by Liverpool Street Productions and the Executive Producers are Alex Sutherland and Tris Payne.

The Great Falklands Gamble: Revealed is a Quickfire Media production and the Executive Producer is Mark Fielder.

About Revealed:

Revealed was launched in 2002 and quickly became one of the channel’s best-loved strands. These four films follow a successful autumn 2011 run that included Quickfire’s Mysteries of the Vampire Skeletons: Revealed and a series of one-off specials including Testimony Films’ Bomber Boys: Revealed, broadcast as part of the channel’s Remembrance Week.

About Channel 5 Factual:

Channel 5 attracts over 45m viewers per month and regularly outperforms its terrestrial competitors. Indeed, across the peak hours of 8-11pm in 2011, Channel 5 outperformed BBC TWO on more than 50 occasions and Channel 4 more than 60 times. The channel’s factual output commands particularly strong audiences. Recently, World’s Scariest Plane Crashes pulled in 1.9 million in the 8pm slot. 2011’s Royal Navy Caribbean Patrol averaged 2.1 million viewers at 9pm. Two parter Jack The Ripper: The Definitive Story averaged 1.8 million whilst Red Sea Jaws pulled in an average of 1.8 million and Amy Winehouse: The Untold Story averaged 1.4 million at 10pm. Long-running strand Extraordinary People also remains hugely popular – Losing One Of My Giant Legs delivered 2.1 million viewers in August 2011, beating BBC TWO and C4 across the hour, while The Woman Who Lost Her Face pulled in 1.9 million last October – again beating BBC TWO.

For further information, please contact Lesley Land or Carly Coughlan at The Outside Organisation on 0207 436 3633 lesley.land@outside-org.co.uk or carly.coughlan@outside-org.co.uk

For all Channel 5 news, please follow www.twitter.com/channel5press

Big Body Squad

admin — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 17:24:07 +0000

Channel 5 has commissioned IWC Media and GroupM Entertainment to make Big Body Squad, a brand new 6 part series that will follow the men and women tasked with looking after the ever growing needs of our ever expanding nation.

Today there are almost a million morbidly obese people in England alone, more than double the number since the year 2000, and by the end of this decade it’s predicted that more than a third of us will be obese.

Big Body Squad joins the supersized ambulance teams, fire crews, equipment specialists, builders and carers across the UK as they service Britain’s ‘Big Society’ and deal with all the associated complications and risks that come with mobilising an obese nation.

As the number of obese people increases so does the demand not only for equipment such as hoists and lifts, and heavy duty medical equipment; but also the training necessary to ensure bariatric patients are safely transported without injury. With limited budgets, for the NHS and local councils it’s often a case of having to weigh up manpower versus equipment.

Big Body Squad gives a thorough insight into all aspects of the specialist training and the risks associated with dealing with these patients.

During this series we’ll follow the specialist ambulance teams who take to the road in their £90,000 adapted ambulances designed to transport plus size people, meet the crews and their patients, and learn about life on both sides of the stretcher.

The show explores what it’s like to be so large you can’t tackle even the simplest of life tasks alone, and follows those responsible for some of the more awkward and sensitive jobs – such as bed bathing a person who weighs 50 or 60 stone. Jobs like these need to be carried out every day; it’s a lifeline service and not just physically; the programme also meets the carers who can be a supersize person’s only link with the outside world.

Greg Barnett, Commissioning Editor, Entertainment, Daytime & Soaps said: “This is a very thought provoking series that presents hard facts and unearths some interesting findings. Obesity is on the increase in Britain and somebody has got to take the strain. Physically and financially.”

Elspeth O'Hare, Executive Producer, IWC Media, said: “We have been given amazing access to what is mainly a hidden world. It has allowed us to see the shocking reality of what it’s like to live at these extremes of bodyweight.”

Notes to Editors:

-Commissioner for Channel 5 – Greg Barnett

-An IWC Media/GroupM Entertainment –Production.

-Executive Producer - Melanie Darlaston – GroupM Entertainment

- Executive Producer - Elspeth O’Hare – IWC Media

- Series Producer – Jo Scott – IWC Media

- IWC Media is a Zodiak Media Company.

-X6 1hr Episodes

Stories include:

• London Ambulance Service calls out the supersize specialists on a 999 job with a difference. Elizabeth needs to get to hospital, fast, but London Ambulance can’t get her out of her house without extra help. Can our team solve the problem and get her there in time?

• At almost 60 stone, Keith hasn’t left his house for 10 years except to go to hospital. With 8 men and an extra large stretcher needed to get him back into his house, it’s a job only a specialist team can tackle. But Keith is getting bigger, heavier, and wider and the doorways in the house are getting tighter. Getting stuck is painful and distressing, but increasingly it’s the reality for a man of his size. We meet the specialised supersize ambulance team working to minimize the distress moving means for Keith.

• Moving house is stressful for anyone, but 48 stone Brenda hasn’t been out of her house for three years so this is an extreme house move. It’s going to take a massive team to pack up her old house and get her into a new home more suited to her size. The biggest problem might be getting her out the door, as her fears of life outside threaten to overcome her. We follow her journey as a team of professionals work to get her out of one house and into another.

• Being supersize has a massive impact on fertility. We meet new mum Ceri as she finally takes her baby home after a long, traumatic and ultimately life threatening battle to become a mother.

• As more and more of us require the services of extra large ambulances, new teams are being trained and sent out on the road. We follow these rookies through their training to the first job on the road – meeting Rookie Rob who’s first supersized job turns out to be a dramatic dash to hospital with a plus size patient in severe pain. How will Rob cope as he’s forced to monitor and medicate his patient, as he and his driver navigate the worst London’s treacherous rush hour traffic can throw at them.

~End ~

For further information, please contact Julie Miller at the Channel 5 Press Office on 020 8612 7751 -Julie.miller@five.tv

For all Channel 5 news, please follow www.twitter.com/channel5press

Marco Pierre White's Kitchen Wars

admin — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 09:30:14 +0000

Soon to be cooking up a storm on Channel 5…

Channel 5 today announced its first in-house produced series, Marco Pierre White’s Kitchen Wars.

The series will air this summer where the enfant terrible chef will use his exceptional culinary eye to sort through hundreds of couples in one of the country’s biggest ever cooking competitions.

Starting on the streets of Britain with the Kitchen Wars’ mobile kitchen and building to an intense studio finale, it’s not just the famous Michelin starred chef who needs impressing; Marco will also ask members of the public to exercise their taste buds to help him find the victorious couple. That victor will be chosen from couples who run restaurants from across the breadth of the UK; from cafes to curry houses, from gastro pubs to greasy spoons. They’re competing for a place in a specially designed studio restaurant, where three kitchens will feed three sets of diners – all at the same time! It’s not just about being a good chef; it’s about having the skills to run the best restaurant. Only one couple will triumph - So who will be crowned champion of Marco Pierre White’s Kitchen Wars?

Marco Pierre White says, “This is a very exciting new programme for me to be involved with because although I’ve been a chef, run restaurants and taught all manner of people how to cook, this is the first time I’ll be judging professional restaurateurs. Really good restaurants balance great food with brilliant service and that’s all about the partnership between the chef and front of house. That’s why a lot of restaurants are run by couples so I’m off on the road to find them. The best will then compete in a specially designed space where they’ll run their restaurants, side by side, cooking meals and delivering service to real diners. Only one couple can win – who has the talent, the strategy and the skills to impress me and the Great British public.”

Andrew O’Connell, Head of Factual, News and Current Affairs at Channel 5, says, “We are delighted to be working with a personality like Marco Pierre White who is one of Britain’s leading chefs. This show will feature the best of British competing at something that really captures the public’s imagination.”

Louise Rainbow, the show’s Executive Producer at Channel 5, is equally galvanized by the production, “The show concept will create a nail-biting series, and we just couldn’t resist it. It’s an ideal first step into creating the content that we want on the channel, and something we want to explore much more moving forward.”

~End~

Note to Editors:

Episodes 1 & 2 - Auditions And Heats - The series begins with a bang as Marco takes the show on the road in his mobile ‘battle kitchen’. He travels the UK to audition hundreds of hopefuls desperate for a place on the show and then whittles them down to the very best from each region.

Episodes 3-6 – Semi Finals - The top twelve couples take turns to compete in the show’s unique signature studio set that throws three kitchens and three restaurants, packed with seventy-five diners, into a single space for the toughest service of the contestants’ lives.

Episode 7 – Grand Final - The series builds to the grand final where the competition gets tougher again; Four couples must cook a marathon service for the British public, as well as a spectacular meal for some special celebrity guests.

- 7 x 60 minute programmes in series.
- Commissioner for Channel 5 - Andrew O’Connell, Head of Factual, News and Current Affairs
- Executive Producer for Channel 5 - Louise Rainbow.

For further information, please contact:

Channel 5 Press Office

Julie Miller
julie.miller@five.tv
Tel: 020 8612 7751

or amy.whittow@outside-org.co.uk
Tel: 020 7436 3633

For all Channel 5 news, please follow www.twitter.com/channel5press

Holiday Heaven On Earth

admin — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 14:27:56 +0000

Channel 5 today announces a brand new travel show for a new generation. Holiday Heaven on Earth will take viewers across the globe from the comfort of their own homes, showing them how to access the world’s best travel experiences without breaking the bank.

The ten part series, which will air on Channel 5 in February, will see presenters Emma Wilson (Angela & Friends, The Oprah Winfrey Show) and Darren Kennedy (This Morning, Project Parent, Operation Transformation) joined by a host of celebrity co-presenters including Rav Wilding, Emma Crosby, Jeff Brazier, Lisa Butcher, Joe Swash and Jenny Frost.

From luxuriating on idyllic beaches and polar bear watching in the Arctic to camel riding in exotic Oman to the lantern festival in Taiwan, Holiday Heaven on Earth will leave no stone unturned in its quest to deliver the perfect holiday experience and get a slice of luxury with value for money in mind. In each 30-minute episode, the presenters will explore three different locations seeking out something to suit everyone; from thrill-seeking adventures and exhilarating city breaks to family holidays relaxing in the lap of luxury.

Emma Wilson will jet to far afield locations such as St Vincent and The Grenadines whilst Darren Kennedy will take on trips to Hong Kong, Macau, San Diego and The Hague. Guest presenter Rav Wilding will showcase Switzerland, Emma Crosby will be exploring the cities of Jordan, Joe Swash will be visiting Malta, Jenny Frost will going to see the Northern Lights in Canada, Jeff Brazier will be skiing in Tremblant in Canada and Lisa Butcher is heading to Chicago. Personally road testing everything the location has to offer, the presenters will uncover a hidden side to places you thought you knew and will advise on everything from recommended hotels, restaurants and any hidden gems.

Michelle Chappell, Commissioning Editor for News, Current Affairs & Documentaries at Channel 5 comments, "With Brits now travelling more than ever before and budgets getting tighter and tighter, Holiday Heaven on Earth will endeavour to showcase the best of what the world has to offer without breaking the bank. Channel 5 is thrilled to be working with the Heaven on Earth travel guides and Blink Films on this exciting new series.”

Dan Chambers, Executive Producer for Blink Films comments, “What I didn't realise when we started on this series is just how many amazing holiday destinations there are out there. We're setting out to show you how you can get to the most special places on earth without having to take out a mortgage.”

~ENDS~

Notes to Editors:

Holiday Heaven on Earth is a Blink Films production.

The Executive Producer is Dan Chambers and the Series Producer is Caroline Blackadder.

For further information, please contact Julie Miller at the Channel 5 Press Office on 020 8612 7751 -Julie.miller@five.tv

For all Channel 5 news, please follow www.twitter.com/channel5press

Celebrity Wedding Planner

admin — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 17:38:48 +0000

Channel 5 puts the most important day of your life in the hands of celebrities, as they take on the role of Celebrity Wedding Planner

A day usually organised by a blushing Bride and Groom to-be is now about to fall into the hands of some very inexperienced Wedding Planners… for better and for worse.

Celebrity Wedding Planner is a new must-see commission, coming exclusively to Channel 5 in January. Everything that’s vital to ensure the big day goes with a bang will be the responsibility of somebody famous. And we mean everything. From choosing the all-important dress, to the venue, the food and the flowers. This series will see some of our best-loved celebrities pushed to their absolute limits and the nerves of the impending newlyweds frayed beyond belief. You see, there’s just one catch – the brides and grooms, to be on this show have to hand total control of what should be the happiest day of their lives to their new wedding planner. So are the bells going to chime, or will the bride be bawling her eyes out?

Taking on the role of wedding planners in this series will be Celebrity Big Brother & X Factor twins Jedward, former Atomic Kitten Kerry Katona, Apprentice stars Raef Bjayou and Stuart “The Brand” Baggs, and Big Brother 2010 winner Josie Gibson.

The cameras will follow the famous planners as they attempt to pull together that dream wedding for our celebrity obsessed brides and grooms and hope to sprinkle some celebrity stardust on their special day. In each show the wedding planner has a limited time-frame to get a celebrity style wedding organised coupled with a limited budget – and what’s more, the celebrity’s identity is kept secret for the majority of the episode! There can be no going back.

Will it end in tears of joy or tears of despair? Can our celebs be the toast of the wedding or will the big day be ruined? Only time will tell…

Greg Barnett, Channel 5’s Commissioning Editor for Entertainment, Daytime & Soaps comments, “A wedding day is arguably the most special day of a person’s life – our four couples are incredibly brave to trust their celebrity wedding planners with every element of such a momentous occasion.

Richard Foster, Managing Director of GroupM Entertainment comments, “Planning a wedding is supposed to be one of life’s great stresses. Letting a celebrity plan it on your behalf is either inspired thinking, or borderline crazy. Either way it should make for compelling viewing." 

Celebrity Wedding Planner (4 x 60 min) is a Renegade and GroupM Entertainment co-production and will TX on Channel 5 from Friday 6th January 2012 at 10pm.

Notes to Editors:

For all the latest about Channel 5, follow us at twitter.com/channel5press

For further information and press requests please contact Melissa Nathan in the Channel 5 Press Office on 020 7436 3633 or melissa.nathan@outside-org.co.uk

Channel 5’s Christmas Crackers

admin — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 14:38:35 +0000

Channel 5 will be hosting a variety of festive television this Christmas that is guaranteed to keep the entire family entertained over the holiday season.

Kicking off this festive line-up is an array of quality films and feature length dramas. BAFTA nominated Hugh Bonneville stars alongside Ray Winstone, Marc Warren and James Faulkner in Ben Hur, an epic, action-packed, big budget TV adaptation of the classic tale of the struggle of the Roman Empire. The JK Rowling Story – Magic Beyond Words is also a film not to be missed. Viewers can also enjoy classic Christmas films and family favourites such as A Christmas Carol, Wizard of Oz, Scrooge: A Christmas Carol, Bad Santa, Seven Brides For Seven Brothers and the famed Golden Globe nominated musical, The Producers.

Channel 5 also has a stocking full of comedy film premieres including Will Ferrell’s hilarious Step Brothers, Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story and The Brothers Soloman starring Will Arnett. There will also be a special TV premiere of 21 which stars Kevin Spacey and Kate Bosworth which is based on a true life story about student card counters attempting to con Las Vegas Casinos out of millions of dollars.

This Christmas, the magic of Oz arrives on Channel 5 in style. Enjoy the classic film Wizard of Oz starring Judy Garland followed by the Disney produced sequel Return to Oz. If that’s not enough, Christopher Lloyd and the stars of The Lord of The Rings join forces in new TV drama The Witches of Oz in which Dorothy is living in present day in New York. Featuring eye-popping special effects, this new drama can be enjoyed by the entire family. On Boxing Day, Channel 5 will also air a day of musicals followed by Britain’s Favourite Christmas Songs which is guaranteed to have all the family on their feet this Christmas.

There is plenty to amuse all the family this Christmas with our Classic Comedy Night including the hilarious Morecambe & Wise Christmas Special. In addition, don’t miss out on Carry on Night, a one-off special introduced by Barbara Windsor, paying homage to the very best of the famed comical British film and television series with a special airing of the first Carry on Christmas from 1969. The evening also includes TV spin-off drama Cor Blimey! and a collection of the Greatest Carry on Films from the last three decades.

Channel 5 also presents a special Mistletoe & Crime Night featuring back-to-back festive episodes of the award winning drama series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and NCIS. Featuring your favourite characters, Christmas is sure to be dramatic for NCIS’ police force and CSI’s Las Vegas forensic scientists.

Returning to Channel 5, The World’s Strongest Man is back for its 34th year continuing the classic Christmas TV tradition of watching the world’s strongest men battle it out in exotic locations. With the final set in North Carolina, this year’s event is hosted by James Richardson & Caroline Pearce and sees British competitors Laurence Shahlaei and Terry Hollands face other musclemen from around the world in challenges such as the Car Deadlift, Truck Pull and the dreaded Atlas Stones.

Viewers can indulge in extra helpings of some of their favourite shows with New Year specials from Eddie Stobart Christmas Special and the technology experts at The Gadget Show.

Looking back at the year’s most shocking moments from the world of celebrity, Most Shocking Celebrity Moments of 2011 takes a light-hearted look back at a year filled with outrageous behavior from the world of the rich and famous. The countdowns continue with TV’s 50 Greatest Magic Tricks and the Greatest Christmas TV Moments, which will countdown a collection of the best festive television and film scenes.

Fed up of missing your favourite Aussie soaps during the annual Christmas break? Then worry no more! Celebrate the very best of the year’s most memorable moments from Home and Away and Neighbours, exclusively on Channel 5 in a very special nightly event to run as a festive treat over 5 nights in December.

For further information, please contact:

julie.miller@five.tv

- 020 8612 7751

When Paddy Met Sally

admin — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 11:37:23 +0000

When two worlds collide...

Channel 5 has commissioned Initial, an Endemol Company to produce a brand new two part factual entertainment series called When Paddy Met Sally.

When Paddy Met Sally explores the very different lives of Sally Bercow and Paddy Doherty and what happens when their two worlds collide.

As wife of the Speaker of the House of Commons, Sally is used to being in the public eye, whilst Irish Traveller Paddy is notoriously private. But now, having been thrown together on Celebrity Big Brother, they will once again live alongside each other in this intriguing new Channel 5 series.

The series will see Sally move in with Paddy for two weeks to experience every aspect of a traveller’s life. With Paddy in charge the first week, Sally will have to fully immerse herself into his customs and traditions.

For Sally, the experience will be a true culture shock as it will be her job to take on the domestic duties at the chalet as well as living in the midst of Paddy’s big family of children and grandchildren. Just how will Sally cope with the challenges of being a traveller’s wife?

By the second week, the tables will turn as Sally takes control and gets to dictate the rules. As head of the house, Sally will be able to make some serious changes. From instituting a cleaning Rota, to forcing Paddy to cook dinner for the family, how will Paddy be able to adapt to life on the site with a woman in charge?

Nick Samwell-Smith, Creative Director at Initial comments; “When Paddy Met Sally explores the unlikeliest of celebrity friendships in a unique and entertaining setting. When two very different worlds collide, viewers can expect conflict, debate and a whole lot of fun. Whatever happens, after two weeks living in each other pockets, their lives will never be quite the same again.”

When Paddy Met Sally is Executive Produced by Paul Coueslant at Initial. The Commissioning Editor at Channel 5 is Steve Gowans.

For further information, please contact:

Julie.miller@five.tv - 020 8612 7751

Katie.greenaway@endemoluk.com - 0208 222 4994

World's Toughest Trucker coming soon to Channel 5

admin — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 11:14:24 +0000

Coming to Channel 5 in January ‘World’s Toughest Trucker’, a programme that sees recognised and respected truckers from different countries go wheel to wheel in a series of real-life trucking challenges from around the world.

The series sees 8 contestants paired up, representing US, Canada, England, Scotland, Australia and Sri Lanka. These vastly experienced professional drivers will have to master the most formidable wagons, show off the trickiest skills and conquer some of the world’s toughest terrains- and most challenging climates.

Over the series, all will have to tackle extreme but real trucking jobs, be it transporting cattle through the Australian outback, carrying fragile load through the Indian Himalayas or delivering riverboats in the Brazilian Amazon. They will also visit Canada and Mongolia.

The truckers will be expected to overcome every aspect of highly specialised jobs, from loading timber with grapple cranes to negotiating the world’s biggest truck lifts.

Channel 5 announce celebrity fronted teen issues documentaries

admin — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 10:56:06 +0000

Channel 5 today announce they have signed up Kym Marsh, Kate Thornton and Jodie Marsh to front a series of inspiring hour long documentaries in which they explore their teenage demons.

The three celebrity authored documentaries, which will air on Channel 5 in the New Year, consist of Crackit produced Kym Marsh: Teen Mums and Me, and Dragonfly/Group M Entertainment co-productions Kate Thornton – Anorexic: My Secret Past and Jodie Marsh – Bullied: My Secret Past‬. Each film will track both the autobiographical story as the celebrity talks candidly about how a particular issue affected their adolescence, revisiting the people and places that defined their experiences– and will also show how people in Britain today are dealing with the same concerns.

In Kate Thornton – Anorexic: My Secret Past takes a candid look back on her experience of her own eating disorder and meets a series of experts and other sufferers to gain a first hand insight into the debilitating illness. The film will consist of interviews with Kate’s friends and family and medical experts will be on hand to reveal new information and facts of both a general and personal nature to Kate. We will also meet people who are currently suffering from eating disorders, both at their homes and in clinics – it’s a hugely emotional and informative journey for Kate as she learns exactly how much eating disorders affect the sufferer and family around them.

In Jodie Marsh – Bullied: My Secret Past‬, the model and bodybuilder looks back on her experiences of being bullied and explores the ever-increasing seriousness of bullying in Britain today. Jodie reflects on her traumatic time at school where she was ruthlessly bullied; an experience that scarred her for life – she will meet victims of bullying as well as experts who offer an insight into the scale of this social problem. The film will attempt to investigate how the problem has changed, from verbal and physical bullying to the current generation of adolescents who suffer at the hands of cruel cyber bullies. In this emotional and at times uncomfortable film, Jodie will talk frankly about how the bullying she suffered at school has followed her through life and has even defined her as a person. Long before pop stardom and Coronation Street fame struck, Kym Marsh was a teenage mum.

In the documentary, Kym Marsh: Teen Mums and Me, the actress and singer will go back to her roots to uncover what life’s like today for the country’s teen mums. As the daughter of a teenage mum herself, Kym grew up on one of the poorest estates in Wigan and was just 19 when she gave birth to her son David – daughter Emily followed three years later and she struggled to get by, living on next to no money and sharing nappies with her sister. In this deeply personal journey, Kym will visit a number of Manchester teen mums to experience the day-to-day reality of their lives, the stigmas attached to being a young mother and how they manage to raise children when they’re attempting to juggle college, work and a social life. We’ll also have unprecedented access to Kym's mum Pauline and alongside intimate family archive, we’ll find out what life was really like for the Corrie star when she was in the same position as the young mums she’s interviewed.

Andrew O’Connell, Head of Factual, News and Current Affairs at Channel 5 comments, "It’s not often you see a celebrity talk so candidly about issues that may have affected them whilst growing up. Kate, Jodie and Kym’s stories are both inspiring and full of hope. These three celebrities are living proof that these teenage demons can be overcome and that life can go on.”

Kym Marsh: Teen Mums & Me is made by Crackit Productions. The Executive Producer is Elaine Hackett and the Producer/Director is Joanne Timoney.

Kate Thornton – Anorexic: My Secret Past is a Dragonfly production. The Producer/Director is Paul Durgan.

Jodie Marsh – Bullied: My Secret Past‬ is a Dragonfly production. The Producer/Director is Rob Rawlings.

--

For further information, please contact Lesley Land or Julie Miller at the Channel 5 Press Office on 0207 436 3633 lesley.land@outside-org.co.uk or julie.miller@five.tv For all Channel 5 news, please follow www.twitter.com/channel5press

Benidorm ER

admin — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 11:04:58 +0000

Benidorm ER… and the Brits who keep it busy…

Coming soon to Channel 5, Benidorm ER. Channel 5 has gained exclusive access to the Clinica Benidorm, one of Spain’s top hospitals, where unfortunate Brits head when they end up in Costa Casualty. We find out what happens next when Brits who are on holiday and end up sick or injured, forced to swap the sun-bed for a hospital bed.

More than a million Brits head to Benidorm every year and it’s a destination that holds a special place in the heart of many a British tourist. Thousands more make the life-changing decision to pack up not just their suitcases, but their entire lives and families and head over to the Costa Blanca for a new life in the sun.

In Benidorm ER, an observational documentary series, we follow the medical teams as they cope with the unpredictable dramas thrown at them by the British tourists – from children to pensioners, from stag & hen revelers to ex-pats rushed to A&E following falls by the poolside, drink-induced accidents, allergic reactions and a myriad of other life threatening emergencies.

Surprisingly, the busiest time of year at the Clinica Benidorm is the winter. From October onwards, Brits flock there in huge numbers, pensioners and party-animals, all desperate to dodge the cold at home. The older tourists in search of winter sun really live it up, however many over-do it and end up suffering heart attacks, respiratory episodes, strokes, kidney failure and even brain hemorrhages. Add to that the huge numbers of stag and hen trippers who head for Benidorm, then it’s easy to see why the hospital needs a team of British translators on hand each day.

As well as being a first port of call in an emergency, the Clinica Benidorm also offers the kind of treatment and technology not available elsewhere in the area, so British patients from across the Costas head here for chemo, cardiac surgery, kidney dialysis, radiology, MRI Scanning, as well as vascular surgery and even neurosurgery. Most of the medical staff and paramedics speak English. Some are English.

Benidorm ER will follow the patients and their families, the doctors, nurses, receptionists and translators who make up the hospital’s 280 staff:

•    Dr Antonio Blasco - Cool and yet chaotic. A top orthopedic surgeon, who is always rushing around. Funny, with endless facial expressions, he is happiest at the end of shift when he can don his leathers & saddle up his Harley Davidson
•    Maureen Santana – The calm in the eye of the hurricane. The British receptionist who married a Spaniard and has worked at the hospital for 23 years. Maureen is the first port of call in the hospital. Maureen deals with up to a thousand calls a day from her little booth in reception. She always has an amusing anecdote. She does Pilates, but calls it Pilots!
•    Dr Patrick Welter – He's German, very busy, very talented & very tall. He speaks perfect English and when he’s not at the heart of life and death situations in A&E, he can be found chatting up the receptionist in oncology, who is actually his wife!
•    Dr Carmen Ruiz – runs A&E with Patrick. Delightful woman with a re-assuring bedside manner for the patients who find themselves injured and miles from home. She also speaks good English.
•    Dr Jeremy Braat – charismatic, young Dutch heart consultant, with a ready wit, delivered in perfect English. Trained in the USA, he’s got a laid-back style which disarms everyone who meets him.
•    Celine Hertogh – Dr Braat’s beautiful young assistant and the ring-leader when it comes to organizing staff social evenings. Together they form a formidable Dutch double act, always joking but deeply professional.

~End~

NOTES TO EDITORS:

•    Channel 5’s Commissioning Editor - Michelle Chappell
•    X6 1 hour Episodes
•    Production Company - Blakeway North
•    Series Producer, Blake McGrow
•    Executive Producer, Sarah Murch

For further press information contact:

Julie Miller
Channel 5 Press Office
Tel: 020 8612 7751 or julie.miller@five.tv