More4 attracts more star quality

13 January 2020

Household names including Dame Darcey Bussell, David Jason and Jon Snow are to front an array of new commissions for More4 as the channel focusses its attentions on uplifting and joyous entertainment formats, contemporary history pieces and exceptional access-led programming.

The channel celebrated recent success with The Great Pottery Throw Down, hosted by Melanie Sykes, attracting More4’s biggest overnight audience in six years to its launch. The show’s debut averaged 688k viewers, 780k peak and a 3.6% share of the viewing audience, almost four times the channel’s slot average whilst drawing a younger and more upmarket audience to the 9pm slot – six and five times the slot average for 16-34 year old viewers and ABC1s respectively.

Director of Programmes, Ian Katz has asked Sean Doyle, Deputy Head of Features and Formats at Channel 4, to lead commissioning for More4, working closely with channel manager Chris Collie.  Sean is on a quest to ensure the brand-new commissioned content has a distinctive identity and stands out from the rest of the pack. With MORE star quality, MORE playful programming, MORE of viewers’ favourites and MORE surprises being at the heart of the channel.

Sean Doyle, Channel 4’s Deputy Head of Features and Formats said, “One of my priorities when joining Channel 4 was to pay particular attention to More4, ensuring it had a clear identity going forward. I’m delighted to announce such a wide-ranging slate for the channel that showcases both a brilliant calibre of talent and cements our reputation in terms of unprecedented access documentaries. From Jon Snow, David Jason and Darcey Bussell there really is something for everyone and we are delighted to have attracted such star quality to More4. These new commissions reflect the level of More4’s ambition and the range and scale of programming across the new schedule is testament to the indies continuing to bring us surprising and innovative ways of telling different stories.”

The new commissions include:

 

Darcey Bussell’s Coastal Walks

4 x 60’

Production company: True North

Commissioning Editor: Sean Doyle, Deputy Head of Features and Formats

Next summer, the final section of the England Coast Path will be completed. At 2,800 miles long, it’ll be the longest route of its kind in the world.  To celebrate, Dame Darcey Bussell will be swapping her famous pointe shoes for walking boots and choosing four routes that capture the best that the wild and wonderful British coastline has to offer. Over four parts, each episode will see Darcey walk a favourite section taking in the glorious scenery, meeting those who make living by the sea a reality and celebrating those whose daily existence is entwined with the ebb and flow of the tides along our diverse coastline.

 

Jon Snow’s Very Hard Questions

10 x 60’

Production company: Youngest Media 

Commissioning Editor: Sean Doyle

Quizzing arrives on More4 with Channel 4 News presenter Jon Snow at the helm. Stepping out from his news desk, he’ll ask the brainiest people in Britain the most difficult quiz questions ever seen on TV. Each episode will see two teams of boffins aim to earn a score high enough to top the leader board and go through to the series final. If they’re stumped and need help then clues are available, but they come at a cost.

 

Inside the Spitfire Factory

6 x 60’

Production company: Whitworth Media

Commissioning Editor: Sean Doyle

A new six-part series delves deep into the world of classic military aircraft restoration at one of Britain’s most unusual factories. Located at the historic Biggin Hill Air base in Kent, the factory exists to bring back to life Britain’s most iconic aircraft – the Spitfire. Over the course of a year, the series will follow the journey of three different Spitfires as they are painstakingly restored from rusty remains in the hope of getting them back to full flying condition. A larger than life cast of characters – from mechanics and pilots to historians and WWII veterans – will also be on hand to explore the Spitfire’s rich history and tell stories full of surprises. Collectors will pay up to £2 million to own a genuine restored Spitfire so the pressure is on…

 

How To Build A….

5 x 60’

Production company: Workerbee

Commissioning Editor: Sean Doyle

In a new five-part series, we will follow the entire build of a luxury car from the beginning of the factory production line to the first drive. From Bentleys to Aston Martins, each episode will explore a different high-end car in intimate detail, also telling the history of the cars and brands featured. The time is tight for the workers on the factory lines, the stakes are incredibly high, and the prices are eye watering.

 

David Jason’s Great British Inventions

4 x 60’

Production company: Wise Owl Films 

Commissioning Editor: Commissioned by David Sayer, former Head of Daytime. Overseen by Sean Doyle

In this four-part series, national treasure David Jason takes his life-long interest in engineering on a journey to discover the great British inventions that transformed our lives, as he finds out just how and why they were created.  From the hovercraft to the light bulb and the tanks of World War One - it seems Britain got there first.  Along the way David finds out about the dedicated British inventors who changed the world - and even sees if he can recreate their moments of genius in his own workshop.

 

Building Historic Homes

8x60’

Production company: Windfall Films

Commissioning Editor: Will Roson

Building Historic Homes charts couples and families as they take on the unique challenge of transforming some of the worlds most unusual and historic buildings – never originally built to be lived in - into the ultimate dream homes.

In each episode, architectural designer Charlie Luxton explores the mix of ancient master crafts and innovative 21st century engineering it takes to convert a historic structure into a unique show-stopping house - from the challenge of re-configuring an abandoned church into a practical family home to the task of transforming a historic windmill into a futuristic house.  The series explores the unique design challenges of reconfiguring each unusually shaped structure into practical living spaces - from curved kitchen units that can hug the walls of a circular Oast House to restoring the fragile timber features of a historic barn. 

The new programming is in addition to successful More4 brands such as The Yorkshire Dales and the Lakes, Phil Spencer’s Stately Homes, Emergency Helicopter Medics and Devon & Cornwall.

 

ENDS

For more information, please contact:

Kate Conway kconway@channel4.co.uk 0207 306 3751