Abdullahi Haji of the BBC Somali Service
A round-up of BBC announcements, press releases and blogs, plus some highlights from our TV, radio and online output last week.
BBC Somali at 60
To mark the 60th anniversary of BBC Somali, specially commissioned programming will be broadcast from Friday 14 July.
Announcements and blogs
Drama
In upcoming River City storyline, Claire Richards from pop group Steps will make a special cameo appearance in actor Gary Lamont’s final episode who is leaving popular Scottish soap after eight years playing the character Robbie Fraser.
Meanwhile, the Media Pack for Top Of The Lake: China Girl was published.
Comedy
BBC Comedy Commissioning and BBC North have announcde the line-up for the 2017 Salford Sitcom Showcase, which takes place on Thursday 27 July. It will also introduce a new bursary scheme for aspiring Northern female character comedians/writers in the memory of the late Caroline Aherne.
Entertainment
It was confirmed that Katherine Jenkins OBE will make her TV series presenting debut in BBC One's Songs Of Praise.
Factual
BBC Two has commissioned a brand new six-part series with Michellin star chef Tom Kerridge, following a group of dieters who want to achieve lasting weight loss with Tom’s take on low calorie recipes in Tom Kerridge: Lose Weight For Good.
Children's
Fans of CBeebies Playtime Island will be able to add a whole host of new games and personalise their very own island with the app’s latest update.
News
BBC News and CBS News announced this week a new editorial and newsgathering relationship that will significantly enhance the global reporting capabilities of both organisations. The announcement was made by BBC Director of News and Current Affairs James Harding and CBS News President David Rhodes.
Radio
BBC Radio 2 is to broadcast a drama starring Toby Jones and Jason Donovan based on award-winning author Michael Morpurgo’s child migration novel, Alone On A Wide Wide Sea.
Elsewhere, Radio 4 announced more detail on its new theatre show Opening Night, starting on 5 August. Giving the audience a backstage pass to some of the most innovative, challenging and provocative new theatrical productions around the entire country, Opening Night will broadcast from a new town or city each month.
iPlayer
Tennis fans keen to catch all the action from this weekend's Wimbledon finals are in luck, as today BBC iPlayer has made it even easier for some viewers to restart live BBC programmes, ensuring that even if they’re running late they won’t miss a moment of the drama from centre court.
Regional
BBC News Northern Ireland has confirmed it will screen special programme: Who Bombed Birmingham?
International
BBC World Service announced that BBC Bangla TV and radio content now reaches 15m people in Bangladesh every week, according to the BBC’s 2017 Global Audience Measure. This includes 9m people who watch the BBC Bangla weekly television programme, BBC Probaho, and 7m people who tune in to the BBC Bangla radio programmes.
Blogs
Alan Davey, Controller of BBC Radio 3, introduces Radio 3 in glorious ‘lossless sound’ - Summer of Sonic Love: Introducing Radio 3 Concert Sound. We also published a round up of the BBC Radio Awards 2017 winners.
Broadcast Highlights
- One Deadly Weekend, Sunday 9 July, BBC THREE
- In The Dark, Tuesday 11 July, BBC ONE
- The British Garden: Life And Death On Your Lawn, Tuesday 11 July, BBC FOUR
- First Night Of The Proms, Friday 14 July, BBC TWO and BBC FOUR
- Bruno Tonioli At The Opera, Monday 10 July, BBC RADIO 2
