Indies strike bumper orders

ITV Studios indies Possessed and 12 Yard, and Scottish indie Two Rivers Media, have all won high-volume commissions in the past week.

BBC1 has handed Possessed and 12 Yard a 50-part order for Unbeatable, a daytime quiz show fronted by comedian Jason Manford.

The show is a knockout competition in which four contestants each give an answer, but only one will be ‘unbeatable’.

The indies also co-produce ITV’s Saturday teatime quiz Catchpoint.

Unbeatable was commissioned by BBC head of daytime and early peak Carla-Maria Lawson and commissioning editor Alex McLeod. Zoë Tait and Glenn Hugill are the exec producers.

Escape to the Chateau

Meanwhile, Channel 4 has assured the future of fact ent brand Escape to the Chateau with a two-year deal for three iterations of the home restoration format.

Two Rivers Media and production partner Chateau TV – set up in 2019 by the show’s hosts Dick and Angel Strawbridge – will make two further eight-part series of the show, taking it to its ninth series.

The deal also comprises another series of spin-off Make Do and Mend, which debuted last year, and a third format that is currently in development.

Escape to the Chateau hit a record high of 3.1 million viewers for its seventh series.

The series were recommissioned by C4 deputy head of features and formats Sean Doyle and will continue to be executive produced by Two Rivers head of popular factual Lizi Wootton and managing director Alan Clements.