SE
Square Eyes
Founding member
This is probably worthy of it's own topic instead of tucked away in that Love Island thread. The first results of Shaps new commissioning team, so definite improvement or long way still to go ?
PS (Anyone know if Cilla will be back for Soapstar Superstar ?)
Quote:
ITV's director of television Simon Shaps today introduced a strong and varied line-up for ITV1's winter season. Shaps, said the season was the first from his new lineup of executives, who have been charged with improving the broadcaster's performance.
"Earlier this year, we put in place a new team whose challenge was to make ITV1 a channel that aims high, that takes risks and is less predictable," he said.
"This winter season sees the first of the new team's commissions coming through on screen and I am delighted to say they have delivered on that promise right across the board with smart and sophisticated new drama, the return of prime time comedy to ITV1, big event entertainment and challenging and timely factual programming."
Mr Shaps promised "the return of prime-time comedy to ITV1", with Catherine Tate starring in The Bad Mother's Handbook , an adaptation of the best-selling novel, and fellow comic Johnny Vegas in new situation comedy Benidorm .
Lisa Tarbuck stars in a series called Bonkers , a cheeky comedy-drama set in a sex-obsessed suburb and comedian Al Murray hosts his own prime time chatshow, Al Murray's Happy Hour . Barry Humphries' creation, Dame Edna , returns to ITV1 for a new series with Shaps saying the format had been "re-invented for the 21st century."
In drama, a Jane Austen season will see adaptations of Emma, Mansfield Park, Persuasion and Northanger Abbey with a cast including Billie Piper and Spooks' Rupert Penry-Jones.
Confessions Of A Diary Secretary takes a "saucy look" at the affair between Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott and his diary secretary Tracey Temple.
Douglas Henshall and Hannah Spearitt will star in six-part series Primeval , based around a group of scientists hired by the government to investigate sightings of extinct creatures.
Also in drama, Keith Allen stars in conspiracy thriller Mobile , set against the backdrop of the Iraq war and the mobile phone industry.
Stephen Fry also returns to ITV for the first time in ten years, starring as Peter Kingdom , a serious lawyer dealing with his brother's suicide.
Former Dr Who Christopher Eccleston stars in Perfect Parents , a thriller about a couple who lie to get their daughter into a Catholic school, with unexpected repercussions.
Charles Dance and Emilia Fox star in Fallen Angel , which tells the story of a murder in reverse, based on the Roth Trilogy of novels by Andrew Taylor.
Ice-skating show Dancing on Ice also returns along with a new series of Ant & Dec's gameshow Pokerface . Richard Madeley fronts "prime-time big money series" Fortune , which sees the public battle to win a share of £1m funded by successful business people including Jeffery Archer and Duncan Bannatyne.
The second series of Soapstar Superstar will see Coronation Street stars Antony Cotton (Sean Tully), Tupele Dorgu (Kelly Crabtree) and Jane Danson (Leanne Battersby) among 11 contenders who will sing for survival early in the New Year.
In factual, former BBC business editor Jeff Randall looks at the pensions crisis in Where's My Pension Gone?, while celebrities such as Anne Kirkbride and Alan Davies take a trip down memory lane to live like their ancestors in You Don't Know You're Born.
Shaps added: "We're delighted with the range of ideas coming through in the next few months at ITV."
Source: Media Guardian / Digital Spy
"Earlier this year, we put in place a new team whose challenge was to make ITV1 a channel that aims high, that takes risks and is less predictable," he said.
"This winter season sees the first of the new team's commissions coming through on screen and I am delighted to say they have delivered on that promise right across the board with smart and sophisticated new drama, the return of prime time comedy to ITV1, big event entertainment and challenging and timely factual programming."
Mr Shaps promised "the return of prime-time comedy to ITV1", with Catherine Tate starring in The Bad Mother's Handbook , an adaptation of the best-selling novel, and fellow comic Johnny Vegas in new situation comedy Benidorm .
Lisa Tarbuck stars in a series called Bonkers , a cheeky comedy-drama set in a sex-obsessed suburb and comedian Al Murray hosts his own prime time chatshow, Al Murray's Happy Hour . Barry Humphries' creation, Dame Edna , returns to ITV1 for a new series with Shaps saying the format had been "re-invented for the 21st century."
In drama, a Jane Austen season will see adaptations of Emma, Mansfield Park, Persuasion and Northanger Abbey with a cast including Billie Piper and Spooks' Rupert Penry-Jones.
Confessions Of A Diary Secretary takes a "saucy look" at the affair between Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott and his diary secretary Tracey Temple.
Douglas Henshall and Hannah Spearitt will star in six-part series Primeval , based around a group of scientists hired by the government to investigate sightings of extinct creatures.
Also in drama, Keith Allen stars in conspiracy thriller Mobile , set against the backdrop of the Iraq war and the mobile phone industry.
Stephen Fry also returns to ITV for the first time in ten years, starring as Peter Kingdom , a serious lawyer dealing with his brother's suicide.
Former Dr Who Christopher Eccleston stars in Perfect Parents , a thriller about a couple who lie to get their daughter into a Catholic school, with unexpected repercussions.
Charles Dance and Emilia Fox star in Fallen Angel , which tells the story of a murder in reverse, based on the Roth Trilogy of novels by Andrew Taylor.
Ice-skating show Dancing on Ice also returns along with a new series of Ant & Dec's gameshow Pokerface . Richard Madeley fronts "prime-time big money series" Fortune , which sees the public battle to win a share of £1m funded by successful business people including Jeffery Archer and Duncan Bannatyne.
The second series of Soapstar Superstar will see Coronation Street stars Antony Cotton (Sean Tully), Tupele Dorgu (Kelly Crabtree) and Jane Danson (Leanne Battersby) among 11 contenders who will sing for survival early in the New Year.
In factual, former BBC business editor Jeff Randall looks at the pensions crisis in Where's My Pension Gone?, while celebrities such as Anne Kirkbride and Alan Davies take a trip down memory lane to live like their ancestors in You Don't Know You're Born.
Shaps added: "We're delighted with the range of ideas coming through in the next few months at ITV."
Source: Media Guardian / Digital Spy
PS (Anyone know if Cilla will be back for Soapstar Superstar ?)
