Features

The Features department is primarily focused on commissioning programming into Channel 4 in peak. 8pm returning series and events are our priority, but we also commission series into 9pm and 10pm. In addition to Channel 4, the Features department also serves More4 with peak factual content.

The Features department predominantly commissions series in lifestyle areas; such as property, health, fitness, fashion, food, body image, parenting and relationships.

What are we looking for now?
We have a strong raft of returning shows and are focusing our hunt for new series on four broad areas:

Modern Lifestyle Programming
We want to commission lifestyle programming for the Deliveroo and AirBnB generation. Millennials aren't buying houses, they get their design inspiration online and they use YouTube as a cookbook, so what can TV give them? How can we broaden our features offering to mirror changes in modern day Britain and bring in younger viewers, without alienating the older audience? What passionate talent – new or established – can we use that feels relevant to our swiftly changing world?

Noisy Series at 8pm
More generally we would like to focus on strong flavours and ideas that feel distinctively C4 in tone and will make some noise at 8pm. For instance we are tired of traditional business-fix and chop-and-chat shows – but we’d love to find new, mischievous ways of approaching these broad subjects. Can we learn from successful entertainment shows, or forms of other shows across the schedule? What subversive ideas can we explore, and what subcultures can we give a voice to?

Broad, Shared Viewing
We will still commission gentler series with warmth and wit at their heart; especially those that are targeted at a shared viewing audience of young and old. We love insightful thinking, humour, reams of take-home, compelling characters, and every idea must be married with journalism and storytelling. Do you have access to a business or institution that could generate enough stories to make a series, or a talent that could bring an audience?

Events
We’d also love to create events in the schedule that have real scale and get the country talking. We could tap into growing trends, harness real world moments, or establish our own newsworthy events.

More 4
On More4, the success of The Yorkshire Dales and the Lakes proved our viewers love real life drama gently unfolding in a stunning setting. Whilst we can’t be flooded with similar ideas its worth considering where else a low budget high quality approach could be applied. We get a lot of celebrity travelogues pitched – yours will have to be something very special to be considered.