The Stage

Channel 4 shakes up programming in favour of new dramas

Published Friday 24 August 2007 at 13:45 by Matthew Hemley

Channel 4 is to drop Celebrity Big Brother and other 9pm favourites from its schedule next year in a bid to make way for fresh programming, including new dramas.

Head of programmes Julian Bellamy said he wanted to “make way for the new” by dropping shows such as You Are What You Eat and Brat Camp.

He explained that he wanted to see new dramas on the channel and said he would be looking to independent production companies to offer up “new and brilliant ideas”, calling the strategy the “biggest call for action in years”.

Though he could not specify what would fill the new schedule, he said it would combine “factual and fiction” and in particular hinted it would have bold one-off dramas. The decision not to run with Celebrity Big Brother in 2008 frees up around 29 hours alone.

Channel 4 said it would also be reducing its spend on series acquired from the United States so it can increase the amount it spends on original home-grown commissions.

The broadcaster today announced its autumn schedule, which includes Coming Up, a series of eight original half-hour dramas. Among them is The Spastic King by Jack Thorne, and Man in a Box by Alecky Blythe.

Other dramas include The Relief of Belsen, a one-off feature length film about the concentration camp, starring Iain Glen and Jemma Redgrave, and Britz, a two-part thriller about British Muslims written by Peter Kosminsky.

The autumn schedule also features Comedy Showcase, six new 30-minute specials from established and up and coming talent, including Other People starring Martin Freeman.