Channel 4 announces new documentary series

18 February 2011

Hamish Mykura, Head of Documentaries

Channel 4 Documentaries today announces two major new series which will lift the lid on two key public institutions, and new projects from two of the defining documentary filmmakers of our time, including a series examining modern-day high society.

Hamish Mykura, Channel 4's Head of Documentaries said:

"I want Channel 4 to be the home of original storytelling that provides an insight into the realities, institutions and curiosities of contemporary Britain. Our ambition is that our documentaries provide revealing and intimate portraits, that tell the human stories behind the institutions.

"In 2011 our budget for documentaries will be increased by £6.7million with an additional 23 hours on-air which will allow the department to produce more stand-out, ambitious series as well as high-calibre singles from some of the country's foremost documentary makers."

Channel 4 has commissioned production company The Garden to provide a revealing insight into one of the country's busiest emergency departments in 24 Hours in A&E (w/t). Each episode of this 14-part series will feature patients treated in one 24-hour period - providing a multidimensional real-time view of front-line medicine that has never been attempted before.

A&E is the most dramatic of locations, somewhere where anything - and anyone - can come through the door at any moment. The series will feature the stories of both the patients and hospital staff and capture unseen, intimate moments from light-hearted banter to extraordinary footage of lives hanging in the balance.

Channel 4 has also commissioned production company Two Four to make an eight-part series Classmates (w/t), which will show life in a modern secondary school in more detail than has ever been seen before. When parents ask their children, "How was your day at school?", they wonder what their teens are like in lessons, whether they are confident or shy, whether they have friends, whether they work hard - the real experiences, the detail, the day-to-day interactions, to which they are not privy. With unprecedented access throughout a school, from the classrooms to the lunch hall; from the headmaster's office to the bike sheds, Classmates (w/t) will follow a group of final year students through the most important year of their lives.

Channel 4 has also commissioned Oxford Films to make The Aristocracy, directed by Bafta-winning film-maker Patrick Forbes (The Force, English Heritage, The National Trust), a major new series examining modern day high society. Some think the aristocracy is a spent force, crippled by the upkeep of their estates with their political influence at an end, as hereditary peers are eased out of the House of Lords. But could the reality be that they remain a significant force in Britain, enmeshed in everyday life and still at the beating heart of power?

In this major observational documentary series, aristocratic families give their view on a changing society, their place within it and offer an insight into their day-to-day lives.

Head of Documentaries, Hamish Mykura also announces a new project from internationally-acclaimed film maker Kim Longinotto who is renowned for her compassionate portraits of controversial subjects (Rough Aunties, Pink Saris). Longinotto's film, Forced Marriage Unit, will tell the extraordinary story of an independent rescue squad which aims to rescue British Asian women who are held against their will in Pakistan and forced into marriages. Operating both alongside the Pakistani police and also working undercover, the squad undertakes dramatic interventions to free the women.

Channel 4 also announces the re-commission of two popular documentary series, observational police series Coppers and Fairy Jobmother, which sees Hayley Taylor taking on the challenge of getting the unemployed of Britain back into work.

Other forthcoming documentary highlights include:

 

The Model Agency TX 23 Feb
The world-famous Premier Model Management, founded by Carole White and her brother Chris Owen, are leaders in their field, having nurtured some of the world's greatest models including Naomi Campbell, Christy Turlington and Claudia Schiffer. This new seven-part series offers unprecedented access to the world of modelling and reveals the reality of daily life in the world's most glamorous industry.

 

Katie: My Beautiful Friends TX March 2011
Millions saw the 2009 Cutting Edge film, Katie: My Beautiful Face, which showed Katie Piper's extraordinary determination to overcome the physical and emotional damage wrought by a horrific acid attack. In this new series, Katie Piper sets out to use her personal experience to help rebuild the lives and confidence of people like her who are fighting for normality while living with a disfigurement.

 

The Hotel (w/t) TX May 2011
Filming from the reception desk to the kitchen; from staff quarters to the restaurant; from guest bedrooms to the gardens, each week The Hotel (working title) will document the ups and downs of working in a busy hotel, and the pressures of dealing with visitors' high expectations for their trip away. While each influx of new guests brings a diverse range of stories including tales of marriage proposals, families trying to build bridges with their teenage kids and a married couple, still madly in love after decades of marriage, who choose to steal away to the hotel while they await the result of an important medical test.

 

Hidden Heroes (w/t) TX Summer 2011
This series will follow the extraordinary journeys of disabled sportsmen and women as they battle to become stars of the London 2012 Paralympic Games. Focusing on three athletes per programme, each episode will explore the brutal training regimes and the fierce rivalries as they compete for a place in Paralympics GB. And with unprecedented access to the trials and tribulations of selection and qualification, the series will be an intimate and unflinching look at the daily lives of these men, women and teenagers as they strive for glory.

 

Notes to Editors
24 Hours in A&E - Production company: The Garden, Commissioning Editor:
Simon Dickson

Classmates (w/t) - Production company: Two Four, Commissioning Editor:
Mark Raphael

The Aristocracy (w/t) - Production company: Oxford Films, Commissioning Editor: Simon Dickson

The Model Agency - Production company: Maverick, Commissioning Editor: Mark Raphael

Katie: My Beautiful Friends - Production company: Mentorn Media, Commissioning Editor: Mark Raphael

The Hotel (w/t) - Production company: Dragonfly, Commissioning Editor:
Simon Dickson

Hidden Heroes (w/t) - Production company: Two Four, Commissioning Editor:
Hamish Mykura