Channel 4 Features team announce new commissions for 2014/2015

4 August 2014

Channel 4’s Features team today announced a raft of new series commissions which will air from later in 2014 and into 2015. Lead by Head of Features and Daytime Gill Wilson, her team of Features commissioning editors – Nick Hornby, Lizi Wootton, Stef Wagstaffe and Alex Menzies – are adding eight brand new series to their slate. The series include Damned Designs, Sarah Beeny’s Clicks and Mortar, Charlie Luxton’s Shore Thing, Can Property Pay My Wages?, Inside Out Home, Fatonomics, The Shut-Ins and Frances Atkins’ Autumn Feasts.

From the beauty parlour millionaire who turned his bungalow into a seven bedroom mansion with a shark-tank, to the eco-warriors who built a ‘Hobbit-house’ in the local woods, Damned Designs follows home owners who’ve fallen foul of the planning laws. These passionate but often ill-fated grand designers are literally fighting to save their homes from the council’s bulldozers, as they take their case to the last chance court of the Planning Inspectorate. Some will be saved, others will be condemned, but each extraordinary and contentious build tells a tale of the British love affair with property at its most extreme and eccentric.

In Sarah Beeny’s Clicks and Mortar (wt) Sarah Beeny joins two families as they take the “online plunge” choosing - like a rapidly growing number of people across the country - to sell their own house via an online website, instead of a high street estate agent.  They’ll have to value their own property and show prospective buyers around their pad, but the home owners’ inexperience could mean they underestimate their local property market; they may find viewings difficult or too time consuming and lose heart if a sale falls through. Get it right and they could save thousands. Get it wrong and the experience could prove a very costly mistake.

Charlie Luxton is on a quest to find the finest, quirkiest, most spectacular and truly unusual homes that can be found on Britain’s beautiful coastline in Charlie Luxton’s Shore Thing.  He’s  embarking on a mission to discover what makes the perfect seaside home, what challenges come along and what inspires the people who live in them and build them. Renovated cottages,  ambitious new builds, converted lighthouses and grand seafront terraces will open their doors as Charlie explores the remarkable variety of styles and architecture that feature around Britain’s coastal towns and villages.  On the tour Charlie will spend time with  those who live and work on the coast and the architectural designer will also be offering up his own ideas on new houses and renovation projects.  

With UK property prices at record levels, more and more of us are dreaming of being able to pack in the day job and make money out of bricks and mortar instead. But without expert advice, mistakes in property developing can prove painfully expensive. In Can Property Pay My Wages? businessman and banker Dave Fishwick steps in to help ordinary Britons who have thrown their hats into the ring. He believes if they work hard and follow his advice, they can make the same amount from property as they would from their 9-5 jobs in the same period. As an investor and former builder himself, Dave will be offering up tricks of the trade and pointing out the pitfalls of developing to would-be developers as they find out if property really can pay their wages.

Architectural genius Zac Monro has spent the last 20 years transforming people’s houses into state of the art homes. Be it secret staircases, underground swimming pools, kitchens that fold away at the touch of a button, he’s done it, turning your average cul-de-sac terrace or inner city town house into out-of-this-world and inspiring abodes. In each episode of Inside Out Homes Zac, along with a different architect / designer, is on a mission to answer homeowners needs in amazing ways - overturning dull conformity by creating bold, individual and stylish pads that are not afraid to stand out proudly from the crowd. From interior to exterior the boundaries of contemporary design will be pushed like never before. Inside Out Home unleashes a property’s extraordinary potential.

For many people financial reward can be a huge motivating factor in their lives and new series Fatonomics will put this to the ultimate test to see if money can motivate the long term overweight to stick to a diet. Fronted by Dr Christian Jessen each week two contributors will be pitted against each other in a weight-loss challenge. Both will literally put their money where their mouth is as they stake their own cash on losing more weight than their rival. Both will have failed to keep going with any diet or exercise regime in the past but will the fear of losing their own money make them finally shed the pounds and keep them off? Combined with reports on the true costs to individuals, industry and the NHS of our growing weight problem, Fatonomics will show why excess pounds can be as bad for our wallets as they are for our health.

Obesity is now one of the greatest public health crises sweeping the UK, with 2.5% of over 16’s now morbidly obese. But for some people it’s an issue that hits very close to home, as an increasingly large group of Brits are now unable to leave their homes due to their extreme weight gain. Many of them depend solely on their partners, parents or offspring to look after them, unable to take care of themselves sufficiently their family carers become a vital life-line and link to outside world. With lives on the brink The Shut-Ins will follow two such people and their loved ones, both of whom who are held hostage by a life devoted to food. Fixed rig cameras will be set up in their homes and a life-changing crack team including a GP, dietician, psychologist and bariatric surgeon will be enlisted to monitor both their relationships and their diets in a bid to turn everyone’s lives around.

Never before have we been keener to couple the elements of fine dining with a hearty approach and there’s one woman helping to lead the way. She’s one of Britain’s finest Michelin-starred chefs, heading up the kitchen of the award-winning Yorke Arms and Channel 4 is set to follow just how Frances Atkins does it. Frances Atkins’ Autumn Feasts will film behind the scenes and front of house at the prized establishment in the Yorkshire Dales, observing staff, diners and the symbiotic relationship between the kitchen and the customer. With skill, passion, big personalities and a little kitchen drama mixed in, Frances Atkins will open the doors to the Yorke Arms and invite viewers to sample how.

ENDS.

Production Credits:

Damned Designs, 4x60’, Channel 4

Commissioned by: Nick Hornby

Executive producer: John Quinn

Production Company: North One TV

Sarah Beeny’s Clicks and Mortar (wt), 6x30’, Channel 4

Commissioned by: Lizi Wooton

Executive producer: John Silver and Lionel Mill

Production Company: Red House

Charlie Luxton’s Shore Thing, 6x60’, More4

Commissioned by: Alex Menzies

Executive producer: Andrew Sheldon

Production Company: True North

 

Can Property Pay My Wages?, 1x60’, Channel 4

Commissioned by: Nick Hornby

Executive producer: Gerry Costello

Production Company: IWC Media

 

Inside Out Home, 6x60’, Channel 4

Commissioned by: Lizi Wootton

Executive producer: John Silver

Production Company: Red House

 

Fatonomics, 4x60’, Channel 4

Commissioned by: Gill Wilson

Executive producer: Ian Holt

Production Company: Maverick TV

 

The Shut-Ins, 6x60’, Channel 4

Commissioned by: Alex Menzies

Executive producer: Dan Chambers

Production Company: Blink Films

 

Frances Atkins’ Autumn Feasts (wt), 1x60’, Channel 4

Commissioned by: Alex Menzies

Executive producer: Paula Trafford

Production Company: Keo Films