ITV has today released details of its Autumn 94 schedule, with the emphasis on new and returning drama as the highlight of the season, together with a themed week, “The War Machine”.
“Staying one step ahead of the competition is getting increasingly tough in this new multi-channel environment”, said Marcus Plantin, but he emphasised the new drama and factual programming as a sure success. ITV has spent £65m on drama this season, with a high proportion of single dramas.
Faith is a political thriller investigating privacy and the tabloid press, starring Michael Gambon. Ellington features a sports agent and promoter, White Goods stars Lenny Henry and Ian McShane as game-show contestants, and the real life story of criminal David Martin is dramatised in Open Fire.
Finney is a new drama series set among the gangland scene of Newcastle. Chiller is an anthology of five dramas, featuring Nigel Havers, Martin Clunes and Serena Gordon.
As well as the new dramas, old favourites will be returning, such as Cracker, Soldier, Soldier, London’s Burning, Heartbeat and Taggart.
ITV’s first themed week, to appear in October under the name “The War Machine” is the flagship of ITV’s new season of documentaries and factual programming. The centrepiece of the week-long exploration of the international arms trade is a two-hour dramatised documentary on UNICEF aid worker Sean Devereux, who was assassinated in Somalia.
World in Action is back, in its usual slot, as is Network First. This begins its autumn run with a two-part examination of date rape; Fidel Castro’s Cuba, coma arousal therapy and Tsar Nicholas are all investigated. Blues and Twos is a new factual series which follows the work of the emergency services. Top films to be premiered this season include Basic Instinct, Silence of the Lambs, Home Alone and Young Guns II. Sports coverage includes the European Champions League and the European Cup Winnners’ Cup, with matches scheduled for Wednesdays and Thursdays. There will also be coverage of boxing, rugby union and athletics.
New entertainment series include Schofield’s Quest, Bill Cosby in The Cosby Mysteries, in which he plays a retired police criminologist. There are also returns for Blind Date, Gladiators, Mr Bean, Spitting Image, The Hypnotic World of Paul McKenna and Hale and Pace.
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18 MILLION VIEW WORLD CUP
Provisional figures estimate that 18.6 million Britons watched the World Cup Final on Sunday. This breaks down to 13.3 million watching on BBC1, and 5.3 million watching ITV.
