Channel 4 to showcase Oxford Dictionaries' Word of the Year 2017

4 December 2017

 

The special one-off programme will explore our favourite words of 2017, with Susie Dent celebrating the winning Word of the Year

Channel 4, in conjunction with Oxford Dictionaries, will tap into the dictionary makers’ expertise as 2017’s Word of the Year is acknowledged in a special one-off programme produced by DSP on Saturday 16th December.

Since 2004, Oxford Dictionaries have compiled an annual shortlist of the most noteworthy and culturally significant words and expressions reflective of each year, with one word given the prestigious title of Word of the Year. Previous Words of the Year include post-truth (2016), vape (2014) and selfie (2013).

This fascinating and funny documentary will feature a series of lively conversations between some well-known word lovers – including Jo Brand, Sara Pascoe, Nish Kumar and Aisling Bea – dissecting the meanings and origins of this year’s most interesting expressions, with narration by Jane Horrocks.

This year's most interesting words cover topics ranging from food, fashion, social media and dating to happiness, identity, race, politics and America. And at the end of it all, Susie Dent will explain which word has been chosen by the Oxford Dictionaries’ lexicographers to take the momentous title of Word of the Year.

Word of the Year 2017 is produced by DSP, part of the Endemol Shine Group. Executive Producer is Donna Clark. The programme was commissioned for Channel 4 by Lizi Wootton, Commissioning Editor for Features.

Word of the Year 2017 airs Saturday 16th December at 6pm on Channel 4.

 

ENDS

 

Notes to Editors

Word of the Year 2017 will include contributions from: comics Jo Brand, Sara Pascoe, Aisling Bea, Nish Kumar and Mae Martin; Made in Chelsea star Jamie Laing; TV presenters Rick Edwards and June Sarpong; social historian Emma Dabiri; writers Jack Monroe and Brontë Aurell; and lexicographers Susie Dent and Katherine Martin. With voiceover by Jane Horrocks.

 

About Oxford University Press (OUP)
Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University's objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide.

OUP is the world's largest university press with the widest global presence. It currently publishes thousands of new publications a year, has offices in around fifty countries, and employs some 6,000 people worldwide.

It has become familiar to millions through a diverse publishing programme that includes scholarly works in all academic disciplines, bibles, music, school and college textbooks, children's books, materials for teaching English as a foreign language, business books, dictionaries and reference books, and academic journals.

 

About DSP
DSP is the multi award winning production company behind a diverse range of high quality productions including documentaries like Richard III: The King in the Car Park (Channel 4), living history such as 24 Hours in the Past (BBC ONE) and factually inspired drama including two series of The Mill (Channel 4) and We’re Doomed! The Dad’s Army Story (BBC TWO) – the channels highest rating single drama of the year.  Led by joint Managing Directors Emily Dalton and Donna Clark, formally BBC’s Head of Formats and Features Commissioning, DSP prides itself on combining passionate story-telling and rigorous authenticity across all its productions from comedy to drama, factual to ground breaking journalism.