Channel 4

Channel 4 commissions first drama series for female writing duo

Kate Ashfield, When The Lights Went Out, Sky,

Channel 4 has commissioned the writers Tracey Malone (Silent Witness) and Kate Ashfield (Line of Duty) for their first drama series as a duo.

The psychological thriller, under working title Born to Kill, will be made by World Productions, and looks into the mind of a teenage boy who suppresses psychopathic desires.

TV comedy experts examine the challenges facing the genre

Nerys Evans, Simon Lupton, Gregor Sharp, Jessica Knappett and Boyd Hilton

The classic sitcom no longer rules the TV schedules in the way that shows such as Fawlty Towers, Open All Hours and Porridge did in the 1970s. Or does it?

A panel of TV practitioners attempted to tease out the answer last month at an RTS early-­evening event, “No laughing matter: how does comedy fight back?” This stimulating debate made one think that we could be living through another golden age of TV comedy without necessarily knowing it.

Dramatist Jack Thorne discusses the truth of storytelling

The Last Panthers

As a child, Jack Thorne was a devoted TV viewer who’d some-­times risk compromising his personal hygiene – all for the sake of his favourite programmes. He was reluctant to leave the box’s magical embrace and delayed taking a shower until the commercial break rolled round.

“That’s fine when you’re eight, but less good when you’re 14,” says Thorne. He has a wide, open face, which lights up like a Belisha beacon when he recalls his childhood and adolescent TV addiction.

Hunted to return for second series

This September saw the launch of Channel 4's unsettling reality series Hunted, in which groups of "fugitives" attempted to go off the grid and escape capture by the expert "hunters" who used surveillance  technology to track them down. Audience ratings averaged 2.2million per episode, with no financial prize for any triumphant fugitives. This time, there's £100,000 up for grabs if they're able to avoid and outsmart the hunters for up to 28 days.

Is Channel 4 for sale?

When Ofcom holds its final board meeting of 2015 in December, it will have a list of the candidates competing to be the next Chair of Channel 4. At the top of the list will be Mark Price, outgoing Chief Executive of Waitrose and Deputy Chair of John Lewis.

The advert for the post – a hugely sensitive one, as the Government explores the possibility of selling off Channel 4 – was hurried out on 10 October by favoured headhunter Dom Loehnis of Egon Zehnder, with a closing date of 16 November.

This week's best on demand TV

Catastrophe (Credit: Channel 4)

1. Catastrophe

Available on All4

Sharon Horgan and Rob Delaney's acerbic comedy about a couple who get pregnant after a one-week-stand was one of this year's funniest new sitcoms. The second series has just started on Channel 4, and it's just as sharp, vulgar, and uproariously funny as the first. In the opening two episodes, the pair are adjusting to family life - and try to rekindle their romance with an ill-fated minibreak to Paris.

 

Fonejacker star Kayvan Novak to present Channel 4 news spoof

Fonejacker writer and star Kayvan Novak has been commissioned to present spoof news bulletins under the working title Britain Today, Tonight.

The comedian will be disguised as a range of personalities including politicians and an American news anchor. He will also spend part of the new show winding up members of the public and pulling pranks on celebrities and politicians.

Al Jazeera turns to Snapchat to reach new audiences

Al Jazeera English has joined the image and video sharing app Snapchat, to provide viewers with a more interactive way to watch their content. 

Snapchat launched in 2011 and now claims to have 4 billion video views per day. The platform allows users to interact with one another by sending an image or video to their contacts for five to ten seconds at a time. 

What I’m watching with...the writers of Humans

From writing about what happens in a fictional five star luxury hotel to artificial intelligence, Sam Vincent and Jonathan Brackley have had a successful career in British television writing.

In 2009 the pair received their first drama credit for BBC One's Hotel Babylon. 

A year later they began writing episodes for BAFTA winning Spooks (MI-5) and soon became the programme’s leading writers.

Now they are the writers of sci-fi Channel 4 show Humans, which explores the presence of synths (human-like-robots) in people’s homes.