Channel 4 Renews Ackley Bridge For Fourth Season, Format Tweaked To Half-Hour

Channel 4 has renewed Ackley Bridge for a fourth series, and confirmed that the school drama will switch to a new half-hour format.

Where the previous three series ran as hour-long episodes, the fourth will consist of ten thirty-minute instalments. Channel 4 commissioning executive Rebecca Holdsworth said the shorter format reflects the viewing habits of the show’s young audience and gives the series a fresh look as it introduces a new set of characters.

Set in a fictional multicultural academy in a Yorkshire mill town, and inspired by real schools created to bring together white and Asian communities in divided towns, the series has been praised across its run for tackling real-world issues with humour and heart. Returning cast members include Sunetra Sarker, Rob James-Collier, Jo Joyner and Charlie Hardwick, alongside a number of new faces.

Produced by The Forge, the fourth series is set to air in 2020.