Channel 5

For a leader with a career that has been steeped in commercial broadcasting, most recently at Channel 5 owner Paramount Global — the historic studio that will soon have new owners in David Ellison’s producer-­financier Skydance Media — the musical stylings make more sense than even Rose may care to admit.

When she joined Paramount during the pandemic in 2020 as Chief Operating Officer for the UK, Rose stayed behind the scenes. But in February this year she was named President of Channel 5 and UK Regional Lead – a chief executive role that thrust her firmly into public view. 

They emerged as unlikely heroes of lockdown: a farming family in Yorkshire who showed, even as the country was brought to a halt by Covid, that life went on when it came to rearing animals. Rob and Dave Nicholson of Cannon Hall Farm in Cawthorne, Barnsley, the stars of Channel 5’s On the Farm, kept millions of isolated viewers entertained with daily live broadcasts on social media.

On the far wall of the programming department at Channel 5, there is a “mood-ometer” – and, on Monday mornings, the mood is not good.

The ratings are always bad at weekends, so Mondays in the office can sometimes seem like the five stages of grief on fast forward. The trick is to try to get Ben [Frow, Channel 5’s programme supremo] to accept the situation before he starts strolling around the office musing on the other things he could have done with his life. Ennui won’t get us out of our ratings slump.

The free service allows its users to stream live channels through smart TVs, without the need for an aerial or dish. Viewers are also able to watch on-demand content from the UK’s biggest broadcasters.

As was previously announced, Hisense will be the first smart TV partner for the service, and begins selling Freely smart TVs today (30^th April).

Freely represents the first collaboration between Britain’s four public service broadcasters, in an effort to futureproof live TV in the age of streaming.

Coma

Monday

Channel 5, 9.00pm

Isn’t it odd how quickly time goes sometimes? Apparently, I have been at Channel 5 for over a year – which I can’t get my head around. When I first met the boss, Ben Frow, he told me he wanted me to anchor the news but also make loads of other programmes for them and he has been true to his word.

Macaques: Monkeys in the Mountains – a Dynasties Special

BBC One, 7.30pm

This special episode of Dynasties takes us to Morocco’s Atlas Mountains, where a macaque called Mac has just become alpha male.

Based on the novel of the same name by T.M. Logan, the four-part series introduces Ed Collier (Jason Watkins), a proud and happy father, husband and local fisherman who will do anything to keep his family together. 

He finds his happiness threatened when the rich, handsome and young Ryan Wilson (Aneurin Barnard) begins a relationship with his daughter Abbie (Poppy Gilbert), threatening to break up the family unit. 

Collier finds his life turned upside down as secrets and lies are exposed from all around, including his own past. 

The three-part drama written by Simon Tyrrell, revisits the Soham murders through the eyes of Maxine Carr.

The series will follow the 2002 police investigation into school assistant Maxine Carr (Jemma Carlton) and her caretaker fiancé Ian Huntley (Scott Reid).

Huntley was convicted of the murders of ten-year-old schoolgirls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman and sentenced to 40 years in prison.

The drama will look at Carr’s complicated and turbulent relationship with Huntley, uncovering why she gave him a false alibi and her label as public enemy number one.