UKTV

The broadcaster will also make the channel available on its video on demand service UKTV Play, aiming to increase the footprint of W and its programme offering.

Upon its launch, viewers will be able to access many hit UKTV Originals, plus brand new upcoming series Alex Jones: Making Babies, Rochelle Humes: Interior Designer in the Making, Nurses on the Ward and Dating With My Mates, and new series of Stacey Dooley Sleeps Over, MasterChef USA, Australia and Canada, and Inside the Ambulance.

‘It’s the gift that keeps on giving,” says UKTV CEO Marcus Arthur, a grin spreading across his face. The gift in question is Gold, the network’s flagship channel, whose audience share last year grew by 7%. Highlights included The Vicar of Dibley: Inside Out, Gold’s most popular show of the year, watched by 829,000 people, with original drama Murder, They Hope in second place, watched by 687,000, and returning scripted series The Cockfields (490,000) in third.

The three-part series is set in the eponymous working-class market town in the East Midlands.

Morgana Robinson stars as the tired and truculent matriarch Maxine, who manages a local chip shop.

Maxine is trying to ride out her divorce and search for a new flame, but her dullard ex-husband Terry (Mathew Horne) is trying ever more desperately to win her back. Meanwhile her vulnerable son Leslie (Jai Hollis) has just come out as gay.

Creator and writer Nathan Foad (The Young Offenders) said: “Making Newark, Newark is my wildest dream come true.

A spin-off from Thomas Harris’ 1988 novel The Silence of the Lambs and its 1991 film adaptation, the thirteen-part series picks up a year after the events of the original.

Rebecca Breeds (Pretty Little Liars) stars as FBI Agent Clarice Starling, who returns to the force in 1993 but is still dealing with the fallout and trauma of the Buffalo Bill case.

She is undergoing therapy but remains as brilliant and brave a detective as ever, which draws monsters and madmen to her.

A wartime aircraft hangar at Leeds East Airport is an unlikely setting for the next generation of out-of-London TV talent to start their careers, but that’s exactly what’s happening at Air TV.

The company – run by ex-BBC execs Matt Richards, Andy Joynson and Ian Cundall – is passionate about attracting, training and retaining young talent to work on their fast-growing slate of factual shows.

There’s a firm logic in the recent push to serve up more original drama by the likes of Channel 5 (Boleyn, The Drowning) and BritBox (The Beast Must Die, Crime). For viewers, a gripping drama is a calling card that helps define a channel in an increasingly crowded market.

Within the industry, it is a stake in the ground, a display of creativity and clout. So, it is fascinating to see that the pay-TV crime channel Alibi, owned by UKTV, has thrown its towel in the ring, and shown its full commitment with a succession of new shows in the second half of 2021.

Cameras will give viewers an insight into Humes’ life as she turns her personal passion for interior design into the professional world.

Humes will visit families all over the country and completely transform their homes with the perfect post-pandemic makeover.

Over the years, Humes has renovated several of her own homes and has a loyal Instagram following who love seeing her style tips and interiors taste. 

However, she has never been faced with real clients, a problem brief, constrained budgets and unrealistic expectations. 

The four-part series will follow Willis and Odudu as they help families all over the UK get their businesses on track after a tough year. 

The pair will offer a much-needed helping hand during some of these families’ darkest times. 

However, there is a twist, each family is facing their own unique challenge, which will require Willis and Odudu to learn new skills in order to help. 

These families are at a make-or-break point so will need the duo to bring their A-game, think quickly on their feet and immerse themselves in their new jobs. 

Having experienced her own pregnancy losses, Mylene Klass will open up on her trauma to help break the taboo that often surrounds the subject.

Klass said: "I think I needed to make this because I needed to watch this. After my miscarriages I had to try and find some answers, some peace, some solidarity with people who've been through it too.

“You just don't want to feel alone because the defining feeling of miscarriage is feeling alone."

The five short form shows will offer audiences unique and easily shareable comedy content and introduce upcoming talent. 

The two shorts for Dave’s YouTube channel include Big Zuu’s Wrap Clash, a new fun brand new food competition that will pit Big Zuu against social media stars to create the best wrap.