Channel 4 orders more Heston, Kevin and Gadget Man

1 May 2013

Channel 4 Factual Entertainment has re-commissioned three primetime series following successful first runs in 2012: Heston’s Fantastical Food, Kevin McCloud: Man Made Home and Gadget Man.

Heston’s Fantastical Food will focus on dishes that built Britain and will have a mix of history, great British heritage, science and fantasy which Heston incorporates into his dishes. Each week, Heston will take a different iconic British dish, deconstruct it and then rebuild it to be as glorious as possible. Each creation will then be served up as an extraordinary eating experience for different communities around the UK.

There will be a wealth of social history through food in each episode as Heston unlocks fascinating food secrets, horrible histories and cooking techniques that gave us some of our modern day favourites – ranging from Ploughman’s lunch and afternoon tea to roast beef dinner. Made by betty and executive produced by Jenny Byrom, the series will air in late 2013.

Gadget Man returns for its second series, this time presented by actor, director and comedian Richard Ayoade. Richard will lead the viewer on a series of adventures, incorporating the very latest in consumer products, cutting edge innovative technology and even creating and designing his own fantasy contraptions.

Richard is intrigued by gadgets and believes there are many yet to be invented that could potentially change our lives in the most profound ways. The series, made by North One Television, will be executive produced by Ricky Kelehar and air in the autumn.

Richard Ayoade said: “I'm delighted to bring my nasal, hesitant and underwhelming delivery to a formerly successful format.”

Having successfully crafted an incredible cabin in the woods with his own bare hands, Kevin McCloud is back for his next marvellous Man Made challenge, testing a basic hypothesis – is simple better? Is creating better than consuming? This time he’s attempting to build his very own beach getaway on the English coast.

Over four episodes, viewers will see Kevin turn modern-day Robinson Crusoe to battle the elements, uncover amazing building materials in remarkable places, and experiment with novel off-grid energy sources - all so he can sit out on his porch as the sun goes down, listen to the sound of the crashing waves and sip a cocktail made from his own home-made rum.

Kevin McCloud Man Made Home is made by Optomen and will be executive produced by Eve Kay and Sue Murphy. It will air on Channel 4 in the autumn.

In addition, What Happens in Kavos is returning for a second series later this year, having performed particularly well with the 16-34 audience throughout its first much talked about outing. And the critically acclaimed The Undateables, which averaged 3.4 million for its second series, will return for a third run in early 2014.

Head of Factual Entertainment, Liam Humphreys, said: “We’re delighted to have so many brilliant series returning in 2013. It’s testament to the creative vision and passion of the producers involved, and of course the exceptional on screen talent we work with in Factual Entertainment at Channel 4.”