Fly-on-the-wall hotel docusoap to reveal modern Upstairs Downstairs

6 December 2010

The Hotel

Fly-on-the-wall hotel docusoap to reveal modern day Upstairs Downstairs

Channel 4 has commissioned Dragonfly Productions to make an eight-part series filmed in a British hotel specialising in short breaks in one of the country's most popular tourist destinations.

For five weeks during the busy 2010 summer season, a hotel in the Lake District was filmed by wall-mounted cameras, documenting the stories of staff, management and guests.

Using the same fly-on-the-wall filming techniques deployed by the Channel's successful observational documentary series The Family and Bafta-award winning One Born Every Minute, a hotel was rigged with over 50 cameras.

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) documents 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.

Simon Dickson, commissioning editor and deputy head of documentaries said: ‘This series is the hotel docusoap remodelled for the 21st century. It will show viewers what goes on behind the ‘do not disturb' sign on the bedroom door, providing a fascinating insight into people's dreams when they book a weekend away in the country. It is classic ‘Upstairs Downstairs' territory. The guests arrive with high expectations and most of the staff have just arrived from Eastern Europe. There is tenderness, culture clashes, surprises and some wonderfully flamboyant characters.'

Sanjay Singhal Managing Director Dragonfly TV and Film Productions, added: ‘Most people have stayed in a hotel at some point - this is an experience that we will all recognise. However, I don't think we've ever seen such a comprehensive, 360 degree portrait of life in one before.'.

Executive producers: Sarah Swingler, Sanjay Singhal and Jonathan Smith. Series Producer: Sallie Clements