Channel 4

Jo Brand pens social worker sitcom for Channel 4

Commissioned by Channel 4 and produced by What Larks Productions, Damned was previously piloted for Sky two years ago with filming of the latest production to start next month.

The show comes soon after Brand's recent return as nurse Kim Wilde in BBC's Going Forward and is her first major Channel 4 project for ten years.

Channel 4 boasts increased audience share in annual report

The broadcaster's revenues are up by £41m on 2014.

The report also revealed the broadcaster worked with 295 suppliers to deliver its content, with a total spend over the year of £629m, of which £455m (approx. 72%) was spent on original content.

Across the Nations and Regions, content spend was at £149m.

For the first time in nine years Channel 4 has increased its audience share on its main channel across all hours, while the peak time portfolio up 12.9% year-on-year.

Bryan Cranston to star in Philip K. Dick anthology

Electric Dreams: The World of Philip K. Dick is a 10-part anthology dramatising the work of science fiction novelist Philip K. Dick. The author's books have previously been the source of Hollywood films such as Total Recall, Blade Runner, and Minority Report.

Each episode will be a one hour standalone drama, with contributing writers from both the US and the UK. Heading up the writing team is Battlestar Galactica​'s Ronald D. Moore.  

Eurotrash returns for EU Referendum special

Jean Paul Gaultier (Credit: Bernard Boyé via Creative Commons)

Hosts Antoine de Caunes and Jean Paul Gaultier, will present the British public with a look at some of the best, worst and weirdest things that Europe has to offer.

Tim Carter, CEO Twenty Twenty Productions, who is producing the show in association with Rapido Television, said “Eurotrash is the reason most of us work in telly! I'm sure when it comes to the Referendum, it will be Eurotrash wot wins it ...for which side is anyone's guess.”

Your must-watch catch up TV

Catch these gems before they disappear.

Grace and Frankie

 

The slick, silver-haired comedy from Friends creator Martha Kauffman is back for a second season.

Straight-laced Grace and free spirit Frankie are both happily married women when their husbands, Robert and Sol, announce that they are leaving them – for each other.

Pirates of the Caribbean star to appear in new Channel 4 drama

Stephen Graham

Starring BAFTA- and RTS-nominated Hollywood actor Stephen Graham (Pirates of the Caribbean, This is England) and written by multi award-winning director Dave Nath, The Watchman (w/t) is a thought-provoking thriller set on one night, in one place and as seen through the eyes of one man.

This week's top TV: 2 - 8 May

Monday

Posh Neighbours at War

Channel 4

7.30pm

Quite aside from having a title to die for, the documentary offers an insight into some of the most vicious spates between neighbours in some of the most expensive parts of the country.

In parts of London where properties can cost tens of millions of pounds, the residents are unsurprisingly a bit on edge about noisy neighbours and their property.

Mitchell and Webb reunite for new Channel 4 comedy

Back comes from Emmy-award winning writer Simon Blackwell, who worked with Mitchell and Webb on Channel 4’s popular comedy Peep Show.

When Stephen’s (Mitchell) father Laurie dies, it is finally Stephen’s time to take over the family business, a local pub. His mother and sister (Julie Deakin and Louise Brealey) are too busy aligning positive energies to take an interest in the family business.

This week's top TV: 25 April - 1 May

Olivia Colman

Monday

Flowers

Channel 4

10pm

From writer/director Will Sharpe and starring Olivia Colman (Broadchurch) and Julian Barratt (The Mighty Boosh), the eccentric Flowers family are undergoing something of a meltdown. 

Maurice (Barratt) is a children's author, while his wife Deborah (Colman) is a trombone teacher. Both are dealing with their own demons, and are quietly helpless as their marriage falls apart.