Sarah Lancashire and Mete Dursun in episode six of Happy Valley broadcast this week and watched by 7.4 million viewers.
A round-up of BBC announcements and press releases and blogs, plus some highlights from our TV, radio and online output this week.
Announcements & Blogs
Television
More details about a new Saturday night game show Can’t Touch This was published on the Media Centre website last Friday. Zoe Ball and Ashley Banjo introduce the new series where touching the prize means winning the prize. Seems straightforward enough, except contestants have to battle their way through a giant obstacle course in order to touch each prize. We’re expecting a lot of bouncing around in the process.
It’s been a busy week of announcements for BBC Two. Last Friday, the channel reveal the return of comedy panel show Insert Name Here with Sue Perkins, Richard Osman and Josh Widdicombe.
Also returning is BBC Scotland’s comedy series for the channel Two Doors Down - the Media Centre website published interviews with members of the cast including Arabella Weir and Doon Mackichan this week.
Documentary maker Louis Theroux makes a return to BBC Two later this year with films about alcohol addiction and brain injury. And a new comedy series exploring Victorian medicine Quacksis heading to the channel starring Matthew Baynton and Rory Kinnear.
Later in the week Jack Dee announced that he was leaving the BBC Two show The Apprentice: You’re Fired.
On Monday, we issued a statement regarding the Top Gear filming last weekend in London.
BBC Three announced two documentaries focusing on addiction, Chasing Dad will be available on bbc.co.uk/bbcthree soon. The Last Days of Legal Highs is online from Tuesday 5 April.
Music
On Sunday, 17 year-old Alexandra Ridout won the BBC Young Musician Jazz Award staged at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. The BBC Young Musician Jazz Final will be broadcast on BBC Four on Friday 13 May. BBC Radio 3 will broadcast a special programme dedicated to the Jazz Award on Saturday 26 March. BBC Young Musician is part of our commitment to music and supporting new talent under BBC Music. The category finalists for the BBC Young Musician Final staged on Sunday 15 May were announced in January.
Sport
Broadcast rights for the 2018 Commonwealth Games were announced on Monday. BBC Sport will be providing 180 hours of comprehensive through-the-night coverage, supported by daytime replay and peak time evening highlights across BBC One, BBC Two, the BBC Sport website, BBC iPlayer and national and local radio.
Radio
There were schedule changes announced for Radio Cymru and Radio 2 this week. And Radio 4 Controller Gwyneth Thomas introduced some new programmes for Spring on the network including a five-part dramatization of Jack Monroe’s book A Girl Called Jack.
News & World Service
BBC World Service languages announced plans to celebrate the holiday of Nowruz for audiences in Iran, Afghanistan, Central Asia, Azerbaijan, Turkey and Pakistan as well as diaspora audiences around the world. On Tuesday, BBC Arabic invited film and documentary-makers to submit works to the third BBC Arabic Festival. Work must have been made after January 1, 2015, and shed light on the Arab world today.
On Wednesday the Guardian reported on changes to the News Channel schedule including extended programmes for Victoria Derbyshire Live and Paper Review.
Blogs
On the About the BBC Blog we revealed the logo for CBBC.
We also remembered sports broadcaster Peter Dimmock, and broadcaster Cliff Michelmore and entertainer Paul Daniels both of whom died on Thursday.
Our colleagues in the BBC Academy published a new podcast about CBBC’s Our School: Fixed rigs and children discussing how to work successfully with children in a school environment. On its blog, the Academy announced that the BBC journalism fellowships 2016-17are now open for applications.
Academy content producer Kris Bramwell wrote about her experience participating in BBC School Report and how she now has a job as a BBC journalist. The Academy also published details of the upcoming Digital Cities: Digital Bristol Week 2016 featuring a host of workshops, panel sessions, masterclasses and events from 9-15 May, plus a video feature focusing on BBC Click's innovative storytelling using 360 video.
Broadcast Highlights
We normally look back on the past week’s broadcast highlights in this section, but this week it seems only right to acknowledge the big live fundraiser that is Sport Relief. The live broadcasts from the Copper Box Arena in East London, interspersed with sketches and programmes featuring stars from the world of sport and comedy kicks off at 7pm on BBC One.
The fourth episode of the BBC adaptation of John Le Carre’s Night Manager registered 6 million viewers on Sunday night. The concluding episode of Happy Valley series two attracted 7.4 million viewers.
The One Show provided a light-hearted nod to the debate which emerged regarding presenter positions on BBC Breakfast. The Guardian captured on how One Show presenters Matt Baker and Alex Jones swapped seats on the sofa for one edition of the teatime magazine show.
The first of a four-part series Inside the Obama White Housebegan on BBC Two this week charting the Presidency of Barack Obama.
The ongoing Archers storyline in which Helen Titchener suffers domestic abuse inflicted by her husband has continued to grip audiences this week and, as reported by the Daily Mail, figures released by the Press Association has seen a rise in calls to the UK’s domestic abuse helpline by 17% this year.
Jon Jacob is Editor, About the BBC Blog
