Channel 4 announces Made in Chelsea: Live in Space

The following story should have appeared before midday this morning, but was delayed due to a technical error (the error being that we only thought of writing this at 11:30am).

Following the success of Channel 4’s recent Live from Space season, the broadcaster has decided to combine two of its most iconic shows to create the ultimate TV mash-up: Made in Chelsea, Live in Space.

The project, which has been given the name Operation MiCheLiS by Nasa, will see six of the cast travel to Mission Control in Houston, where they will be intensively trained over a period of six weeks before being transported to the International Space Station. On arrival, they will undergo a 24-hour handover from the incumbent astronauts, before being left to run the ISS for the duration of the ten-week series.

The cast are currently undergoing rigorous testing to determine which ones will be best suited to life as an astronaut. Concerns have been raised about the fact that astronaut training normally takes between five and ten years, but NASA and Channel 4 are confident that the cast will at no stage be in any danger.

“We are living in an age where space travel for civilians is about to become a reality,” said Commissioning Editor for Factual International Broadcasting (FIB) Godfrey Puckfoot. “Who better to lead us into this brave new dawn than Spencer, Cheska, Binky and the rest? Of course, their safety will be the paramount concern during the entire process. However, we anticipate that their public school background and stiff moral fibre will allow them to cope with any surprises or privations that life on the ISS throws their way.”

“This is a remarkable project,” echoed Channel 4’s Chief of Made Up Projects, Laverne Knutsford. “We have every confidence that the chosen Chelsea-ites will make extremely convincing space cadets. Any concerns for their safety are hugely exaggerated. Going into space is hardly rocket science. The greatest risk to them, perhaps, is how they would survive in an atmosphere without the oxygen of publicity.”

NASA’s food-and-drink department are currently working on a method to allow Champagne to be served in a zero-gravity environment, so that viewers will be able to enjoy the familiar tipsy high-jinks of their favourite characters.

If the show is a success, Channel 4 will look to the possibility of moving other iconic programmes off-planet from time to time, including Countdown (to Lift Off); A Place Near the Sun; and, most ambitiously, Channel 4 Racing Live from Space.