Tuesday 23 January 2018 Award-winning broadcaster UKTV today announced a significant increase in commissions following the success of its 2017 UKTV Originals slate. The network saw record viewing figures in 2017, including Gold enjoying its highest ever ratings for Murder On The Blackpool Express and UKTV Originals making up eight of Daves top ten rating shows.
UKTV will increase its total of commissioned hours by around a third from independent producers in 2018 versus 2017. UKTV is also expanding its co-productions and moving into commissioning drama for the first time.
The first new format to be revealed, for UKTVs entertainment channel Dave, is Jon Richardson: Ultimate Worrier (8x60), a new comedy format hosted by obsessive worrier and organiser Jon Richardson, as he attempts to analyse, assess and log every single one of his many, many worries. Will his wife replace him with a sex robot? Will he ever make a jacket potato as good as the one he made in May 2009? What the hell are we going to do about Morrissey? Which of his worries should he worry about the most? To help him with this colossal task, Jon is joined each week in studio by comedians and a range of experts. Using a mix of bespoke VT, funny studio set-pieces and archive Jon and his guests will explore exactly how severe each worry actually is before filing it accordingly in Jons very own Worriedness Index - a high-tech Minority Report-style digital log of every anxiety in existence. Produced by Talkback Thames, the series has been commissioned by UKTV senior commissioning editor Iain Coyle.
Also new for 2018 is another big-name talent-led format: Romesh Ranganathan becomes Judge Romesh (10x30) for Dave, holding court over real-life disputes, casting his trademark acerbic wit over each. Each week Romesh will preside over genuine disagreements and mete out comic judgement in his own inimitable style. Judge Romesh brings all the drama of a court room with a triple-dose of funny. Produced by Hungry Bear Media, its commissioned for UKTV by Joe McVey, commissioning executive.
Extending UKTV Original factual commissions As well as planning to significantly increase comedy entertainment shows, UKTV is also ramping up its factual commissions with two new documentary series, the first Cop Car Workshop (10x60) from Blink Films where, for the first time, viewers will see inside one of the Britains leading police car workshops.
Following the car-mad team at Cheshire Police as they build bespoke vehicles and repair ones that have been out in the field - from cars to lorries to bikes to boats, the series is a mix of dramatic footage of modern-day police work and a human look at the characters in the workshop as they outfit the vehicles in the very latest technology and equipment. Cop Car Workshop is executively produced for UKTV by Joe McVey, commissioning executive, for Dave.
Also commissioned is Inside the Vets (15x60), building out Ws Popular Inside the....franchise from Brown Bob Productions. This brand-new documentary series follows the daily challenges faced by the dedicated team at one of Britains busiest veterinary clinics looking after some extraordinary animals. Inside The Vets will use fixed-rig cameras to give a unique perspective of the incredible work undertaken by veterinary surgeon Clive Munn and his team of specialists in Kent, who go to extreme lengths to care for some of Britains most exotic pets and promises to be heart-warming television. Commissioned by deputy director of commissioning, Hilary Rosen with UKTV commissioning executive Natalie Rose as executive producer.
Inside the Ambulance, a fixed rig show filmed with paramedics of the West Midlands Ambulance Service, attracted audiences on W of 276k.
These factual shows sit alongside other UKTV Originals Helicopter ER on Really and Cops UK: Body Cam Squad, from Raw Cut Television, which has also been commissioned for a third and fourth series. The series is commissioned by deputy director of commissioning, Hilary Rosen and executive produced for UKTV by Arch Dyson.
All of the commissions have been ordered by Richard Watsham, director of commissioning and Steve North, genre general manager, comedy and entertainment.
Richard Watsham commented,
2018 will see UKTV operate increasingly as a full-service broadcaster, with year on year growth in the volume of original hours and the breadth of genres we cover. Expanding our output further allows us to work with a larger than ever pool of on and off-screen talent and provide some of Britains best producers a different route to get their ideas to air.
Were particularly excited to be working with Jon Richardson and Romesh Ranganathan, two fantastic Taskmaster alumni, who will help us continue to lead in the development of bold, new comedy entertainment formats. With another significant push into original programming this is a genuine statement of ambition for UKTV.
January Schedule
The new commissions join the growing slate of UKTV Originals. January saw the launch of high-octane gameshow The Wave fronted by Rylan Clarke-Neal on W, social media star Yianni Charalambous launched his first show, Yianni: Supercar Customiser and Unspun with Matt Forde returns to Dave with an extra three episodes commissioned and a brand new extended in-depth version, Unspun XL with Matt Forde.
Victoria Wood retrospective dinnerladies diaries airs on Gold in March, while Reallys factual slate of UKTV Originals includes all new firefighter access documentary, Into the Fire - and next month Ws Celebrity Haunted... franchise returns with Christine Lampard and Matt Richardson at the helm.
For more information, please contact:
Justine Bower, Director of Comms, Consumer & Social
Tessa Matchett, Head of Network Comms
About UKTV
UKTV is a commercial broadcaster reaching over 40m viewers every month. The award-winning independent
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
15/06/2026
Detach from Direct-Attached: How Remote Editing with EVO Keeps Creative Teams Mo...
14/06/2026
Library captures 1960s R&B/pop drum sound
Following on from their recent wave of plug-in effects, Iconic Instruments have just launched an all-new virtual d...
14/06/2026
HBO Comedy Rooster Shot with URSA Cine 17K 65
Brie Clayton June 14, 2026
0 Comments
Large format brings viewers intimately close to characters.
Black...
13/06/2026
Latest expansion pack includes 252 presets
Devious Machines have recently introduced another expansion for their powerful multi-effects plug-in, Infiltrator...
13/06/2026
Create custom DAW/plug-in controllers using prompts
MetaGrid have recently introduced an all-new AI Builder function to their touchscreen-based control surf...
13/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
YES Network and The Gotham Sports App will air seven Athletes Unlimited Softball...
12/06/2026
The United Football League will host its FAST Innovation Suite at the 2026 United Bowl presented by Credit One Bank on Saturday, June 13 at 3:00 p.m. ET at Audi...
12/06/2026
PTZOptics and LayerJot will present live demonstrations at InfoComm 2026 showing how natural-language AI prompting, robotic camera control, and on-device comput...
12/06/2026
MultiDyne Video and Fiber Optic Systems will exhibit at InfoComm 2026, featuring...
12/06/2026
Ateme has announced that Eurovision Services is using Ateme's software-based frame-rate conversion technology for international live event workflows. The de...
12/06/2026
Bitmovin and Simplestream have announced a partnership with Xperi to simplify the launch of OTT streaming services on TiVo OS smart TVs and devices. The collabo...
12/06/2026
Net Insight has announced that a multinational technology company is deploying a...
12/06/2026
MLB Players Inc., the business arm of the MLB Players Association, has announced a partnership with Athletes First to develop and sell brand partnerships across...
12/06/2026
Guntermann and Drunck (G&D) and VuWall have announced the CommandKeyboard-Advanc...
12/06/2026
Comcast Smart Solutions announces a new smart technology deployment with Major L...
12/06/2026
Elevation Worship completed the initial leg of its Elevation Nights 2026 tour ...
12/06/2026
AJA Video Systems has announced KONA IP25 support for Colorfront Transkoder and ...
12/06/2026
Audinate Group Limited (ASX: AD8) will exhibit at InfoComm 2026 (Booth C7321, Ce...
12/06/2026
Pac-12 Commissioner Teresa Gould has announced the appointment of Scott Adametz as Chief Technology Officer. The Pac-12 describes the hire as the first CTO appo...
12/06/2026
Grass Valley has announced AMPP Edge Live, a production system combining Grass Valley hardware, NVIDIA Blackwell GPU acceleration, and AMPP OS in a single platf...
12/06/2026
At one time a trailblazer with the launch of the Longhorn Network, the Universit...
12/06/2026
Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent rating news and is derived from press rel...
12/06/2026
Chyron has announced PAINT 10.4, an update to its illustrated replay and sports ...
12/06/2026
SVP, Production, Mark Gross: With the new schedule, with not having every Sunday night, it has given us an opportunity to take a step back and reimagine what o...
12/06/2026
For Televisa Technical Engineering Manager Roberto N nez Ibarra and the small team of 12 technicians and two production personnel at the IBC things are already ...
12/06/2026
Simple Steps to Better Acoustics - Taming The Small Room
Most of us mix in spare rooms and small spaces, where the acoustics fight us at every turn. At Gear...
12/06/2026
Latest addition expands vintage-inspired effects palette
Meris' Ottobit pedal range draws its inspiration from vintage gaming consoles, and the latest a...
12/06/2026
Soundbox-based chamber strings series expanded
Sonora Cinematic have just announced the launch of the second instalment in their Soundbox-based chamber stri...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
AJA Announces KONA IP25 Integration with Colorfront Software
Brie Clayton June 12, 2026
0 Comments
Collaboration enables uncompressed SMPTE ST 2110 I/O ...
12/06/2026
URSA Cine 12K LF Used to Create Visuals for STUTS' K-Arena Concert
Brie Clayton June 12, 2026
0 Comments
Organic visuals projected on a giant scre...
12/06/2026
MTI FILM Acquires Mango New Edit, Expanding its Global Post-Production Services ...
12/06/2026
AI Point Tracking Speeds Up Complex VFX Tracks in Mocha Pro
Jessie Electa Petrov June 12, 2026
0 Comments
The 2026.5 release adds automatic point trac...
12/06/2026
Bitmovin, a provider of video streaming solutions, has partnered with Simplestream, a provider of OTT and broadcast solutions, and technology provider Xperi, to...
12/06/2026
Leostream Corporation, creator of the world-leading Leostream Remote Desktop Access Platform, today announced Jigsaw24, a leading B2B IT solutions provider wit...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
How Aussie indie games and screen are levelling up with IP 11 June 2026
Ari Harrison, Pro Jank Footy
Head of Games Joey Egger and Ari Harrison of Umbrella sha...
12/06/2026
AgentPerf from Artificial Analysis, the industry's first agentic AI benchmark, gives developers, enterprises and infrastructure providers a clear way to com...
Tuesday 23 January 2018 Award-winning broadcaster UKTV today announced a significant increase in commissions following the success of its 2017 UKTV Originals slate. The network saw record viewing figures in 2017, including Gold enjoying its highest ever ratings for Murder On The Blackpool Express and UKTV Originals making up eight of Daves top ten rating shows.
