26 August 2020 UKTV is ramping up production on commissions after announcing at todays Edinburgh TV Festival that hit shows Emma Willis: Delivering Babies and Stacey Dooley Sleeps Over are returning to the network.Filming is already underway on Emma Willis: Delivering Babies 2020 which marks the third full series of the popular franchise for W, and Stacey Dooley is returning for a second series of Stacey Dooley Sleeps Over which starts filming this weekend. They join a second series plus two specials of Daves Meet the Richardsons and a bumper 20 episodes of Yesterdays Bangers & Cash which are in production.
Richard Watsham, UKTVs Director of Commissioning, said:
Were entering an important new stage for UKTV Originals, having just won our first Bafta, we now have more successful shows returning than ever before. Its a testament to the quality of the ideas, the talent and the finished programmes that producers are delivering us.
One of our key focusses has been on working hand in hand with talent to deliver their passion projects and the success of these shows proves that a truly collaborative approach can achieve brilliant results. So, it gives me great pleasure to be continuing our relationship with Emma, Stacey, Jon and Lucy, and the whole team at the Mathewsons.
The past few months have been extremely challenging for the production sector and Id like to say thank you to all of the production companies for their determination, their flexibility and their application of creative solutions to get productions back up and running.
Thankfully the number of returners is not preventing significant opportunities for new commissions going forwards and were busy developing the next wave of comedy ents formats that I hope will keep us at the forefront of this genre, alongside more high quality factual, drama and scripted comedy.
UKTV Originals Emma Willis: Delivering Babies in 2020 (4x60)
Emma Willis is returning to UKTVs premium entertainment channel, W, for a brand-new series of the award-winning Delivering Babies, but this time the families are preparing to give birth in the midst of a pandemic.
Produced by Firecracker Films, production is already underway on the UKTV Original series which will follow Emma as she tells the stories of families whose birthing plans have been thrown up in the air. Emma, who is a fully qualified Maternity Care Assistant, will help parents-to-be across the UK as they prepare to welcome their baby into the new-normal. With the births being shot by the families themselves, this is a unique and intimate insight into what it means to bring new life into a world thats been turned upside down. The series will follow them in the run up to their births and when they return home - with Emma on hand to offer support and guidance on everything from breastfeeding, to sleep routines, to keeping a healthy mindset.
Stacey Dooley Sleeps Over S2 (6X60)
Award-winning documentary maker Stacey Dooley is also returning to W for a second series of her hit show Stacey Dooley Sleeps Over (6x60). The UKTV Original, which is produced by Firecracker Films, will go into production in the coming days and is set to air in 2021.
In this brand-new series, Stacey will explore more unseen areas of modern relationships and family life as she spends 72-hours as a house guest, learning all the routines and rituals that make each one so unique. Whether its exploring the religious activities of a strict orthodox Jewish family, or the realities of maintaining the traditional lifestyle of a tradwife, Stacey will be given the opportunity to get to the very heart of each family, giving her a first-hand experience of different communities from the comfort of their sofa.
Meet the Richardsons S2 (8X40) and two specials (2x60)
Following the ratings success of its debut series, filming is currently underway on a brand new series and two specials of Daves smash hit comedy Meet the Richardsons, starring married comedians Jon Richardson and Lucy Beaumont.
Written by Lucy Beaumont and Tim Reid (Car Share) and produced by Second Act Productions, Meet the Richardsons offers a fictional window into the funny and frustrated marriage of Jon Richardson and Lucy Beaumont as they give viewers a glimpse of their life in Yorkshire. The second series centres on the further frustrations of married life, the clash of career and personal life and how Jon and Lucy have been coping since viewers last saw them, including dealing with life after lockdown, which Jon predicted of course, creating the perfect family Christmas and Lucys mum Gill spotting some spooky goings on in The Dog and Bastard. The special episodes will air later this year and the full second series will air in 2021.
Bangers & Cash S4 & 5 (20x60)
Two further series of Yesterdays popular UKTV Original Bangers & Cash are also in production. Produced by Air TV, the show follows the Mathewsons, a charismatic dynasty of classic car auctioneers led by Derek Mathewson, as they discover all manner of forgotten motors and memorabilia, offering them to the public at auction from their HQ in the quintessentially British village of Thornton-le-Dale, North Yorkshire.
Bangers & Cash launched on Yesterday in February 2020 and the final episode of the 10-part series drew an audience of 519k, making it the most watched factual programme on Yesterday since 2012.
The third series of the hit show will premiere on Yesterday in October, with series 4 & 5 following next year.
Upcoming shows
In addition to these returning shows, viewers have a plethora of new UKTV originals to look forward to including: Daves 8x60 comedy panel show Mel: Giedroyc: Unforgivable; new 6x60 crime drama The Diplomat, written by Ben Richards and produced by World Productions for Alibi and BBC Studios Distribution, and brand new 1x120 retrospective The Fast Show: Just Another Load Of Bloomi
