Channel 4 Summer Season

Channel 4 has announced what it claims is its “most diverse summer season ever”. Billed as an alternative to the summer sporting coverage, highlights of its new season include a movie season of mainstream and cult movies; leading this schedule is The Piano, backed by Channel 4. As part of The Celluloid Closet there will be a documentary feature examining the protrayal of lesbians and gays through a century of cinema; other movies include Queen Christina and My Own Private Idaho. Special seasons will celebrate Robert Altman, of M*A*S*H fame, and HandMade in Britain, the British production company responsible for Monty Python’s Life of Brian and Time Bandits.

The late night zone is to be filled by Latino Nights, a seven-week mix of drama, documentary and music surrounding Latin America. Documentaries include the return of True Stories; Secret History uncovers new evidence about some familiar events, identifying Jack the Ripper and considering Harold Wilson’s paranoia during his final months of office. Encounters documents the recent controversial attempts on Everest, featuring actor Brian Blessed.

Jane Horrocks leads Channel 4’s summer comedy with a one-off special Never Mind the Horrocks, and stars in Call Yellow with Martin Clunes. Porkpie, the spin-off from Desmonds returns, as do Friends, Frasier, Ellen and Whose Line is it Anyway?

Susan Tully adopts a new role in Genderquake, a series exploring the shift in paid work from men to women since the war. Moving Stories extends the format of the Real Holiday Show, with the experiences of those moving house. The Real Wedding Show is also a spin-off from the Real Holiday Show, and will feature Gaby Roslin interviewing the newly-weds.

Equinox returns, and includes features on the Curse of the Cocaine Mummies and research into non-lethal weapons. The White Room returns for its third series to Friday, now established as music night, with TFI Friday and the return in September of Flava.

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