ITVX

ITV turns to the X factor

How refreshing it is to hear ITV being negative about its own online service, ITV Hub. Apparently, it is clunky, looks dated, isn’t a destination, and there is nothing on it. All pretty much true, and expressed only a good chunk of a decade after all those things were clear to the UK consumer. Why this sudden honesty? The imminent launch of Hub’s replacement, of course: ITVX will debut on 8 December.

The three amigos are back for a new road trip in Gordon, Gino and Fred: Viva España

Gordon Ramsay, Gino D’Acampo, and Fred Sirieix stand together

The trio will return for a new trip to the sunny country of Spain. 

Gordon, Gino and Fred will be travelling across Andalusia and Galicia in their trusty RV to discover the best seafood, wine and tapas the country has to offer. 

In the past, the trio have travelled across France, Italy, Scotland, Morocco, the US, Lapland and Greece.

Viewers will get to watch the bromance and bickering between the good friends as they compete to be the best in everything from driving, cooking, jamón tasting and flamenco dancing.

ITVX tells the dramatic inside story in The Rise and Fall of Boris Becker

Yellow text on a dark teal background

The two-part series will use exclusive interviews with those who know Becker the best, including other tennis champions. 

Never before seen personal and family archives will help build a picture of who Becker is and how he went from three-time Wimbledon champion, and one of the world’s greatest sporting stars, to sitting in Wandsworth prison guilty of hiding assets to avoid paying back debts.

The highly publicised bankruptcy trial found Becker guilty of concealing £2.5m worth of assets, which led to his prison sentence of two and a half years. 

ITV’s CEO Carolyn McCall on ITVX, Holly and Phil and the threat of Netflix's new ad tier

ITV CEO Carolyn McCall

Session chair Amol Rajan: I understand that ITV has a new product you are keen to talk about: what is ITVX that ITV Hub is not? 

Carolyn McCall: ITV Hub was a catch-up service that was launched six or seven years ago with very basic technology. It was a very clunky user ­experience and it had about 9,000 hours of content. It was never really intended to be a destination…. 

Paula Milne to adapt mystery novel Platform 7 for ITVX

The drama tells the story of Lisa, who, after witnessing a horrific event on platform 7 of a railway station, is made aware of a connection between her own life and that of the event.

Describing the series, Milne said: “This is no traditional ‘spooky’ ghost story. It’s the tale of a ghost on a quest to discover who she was and the events that led to her untimely death. Her story is a celebration of indignation versus passivity and truth versus lies.

ITV commissions Life and Limb: The Missing Millionairess and Vanishing Act

The ITV documentary Life and Limb: The Missing Millionairess from Freemantle’s Naked will explore the mystery of the disappearance of Melissa Caddick. 

Caddick was an Australian millionairess who left her home for a morning run in November 2020 but never made it home. 

Three months later a group of surfers on a beach 250 miles south of Sydney made the shocking and gruesome discovery of a washed-up trainer containing human remains.

ITV commissions dark comedy Passenger for ITVX

Written by Andrew Buchan (Broadchurch), the six-part series is set in the small northern village of Chadder Vale and follows a tight-knight community that is turned upside down when a series of strange and unnatural crimes begin to occur. 

Former Met Police Detective Riya Ajunwa has been working in the village for five years and is desperate for that one big case that will challenge her and make her feel alive again.