Set in Dublin, Women on the Verge, which is based on the best-selling book Woman on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown by Lorna Martin, tells the darkly comic story of three successful thirty-something friends, who are all at various stages of their lives. Though all three are enterprising and hard-working, they're still concerned that their lives are not going entirely to plan.
Each episode will see a pair of house hunters head to the coast in search of their dream home. In this series, the participants will also be shown homes that are let out by their owners, to give them an insight into how much profit they could make on their potential property.
Former Watchdog presenter Michelle Ackerley will follow in the footsteps of Jenni Falconer and Catherine Gee to host the new 20-part series.
For almost a decade, UKTV, currently owned jointly by BBC Studios and Discovery, has been screening innovative and successful original entertainment shows. Over the past five years, the number of original shows has grown fivefold. Today, UKTV commissions in every genre, other than children’s, news and current affairs.
The show seeks to give an insight into the world high-class dating, and viewers will be guided by elite matchmaker Lara Asprey and her team as they try to find the perfect match for their clients.
“This exciting new series for W is a funny and heart-warming peek into the extraordinary world of a very exclusive dating agency,” said commissioning editor Helen Nightingale. She added, ‘In the year that Prince Harry marries Meghan, don’t we all just yearn for a love story with a fairy tale ending?”
Supernatural comedy Zapped sees the return of James Buckley (The Inbetweeners) as unassuming office worker Brian who is transported to a fantastical land named Munty, where magic is real but restricted by a police state. Here he meets wizard Howell (Paul Kaye) and a whole host of magical beings, the third series picks up from the a cliff-hanger ending, with Brian and Howell in dire straits.
The three-part UKTV Original series will focus on the pressure felt by many women to look perfect and the impossibility of modern beauty standards. Over three hours, Healey will examine both her own and other women’s fixations with their bodies and what they perceive as negative attributes.
Healey is best known for her work on light-hearted documentaries for BBC Three, often with a focus on issues to do with health and body image, such as Cherry Healey: Old Before My Time and Cherry Has A Baby.
The series is set in the competitive and celebrity-driven world of public relations.
Flack follows Robyn (Paquin), a witty American publicity maven living in London, as she tackles the complexities of the digital age where scandals can go viral in an instant.
“My character exists in a world where there are no moral absolutes and humour is used as a sharply executed defence mechanism to maintain the illusion of perpetual control,” says Paquin
The ‘unlikely jazz/comedy hybrid’ will feature guest performances from some of the biggest names in comedy and music.
The two hour show will be recorded live at The London Palladium later this year.
Alex Horne said, “I’m pretty sure no-one’s ever tried combining music with comedy before, let alone filming the whole thing and putting it on TV, so we’re pretty excited to see how Twitter will cope with jazz and jokes for two hours.”
UKTV has announced plans to build on the successes of 2017, which saw record viewing figures across its channels and soaring ratings for Gold’s Murder on the Blackpool Express. The broadcaster intends to increase its total number of commissioned hours from indies by nearly a third, and will push into commissioned drama.
