EXCLUSIVE: Despite suffering some ratings declines on BBC One in recent weeks, it looks like Hunted will indeed make it to a second season. I’ve learned that British screen writer Claire Wilson has been added to the writing staff of the Kudos Film & TV spy drama for a potential second season. Wilson, repped by Casarotto Ramsay & Associates, is a graduate of the Vancouver Film School and is perhaps best known in the industry for her original screenplay Breathe, which ranked fifth on The Brit List 2010.
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EXCLUSIVE: Call it Private Eye: The Early Years. I have just learned that the BBC has put into development a 60 minute one-off TV movie about the World War I publication The Wipers Times. My sources have described the project as a dramedy about the satirical publication that became famous in the trenches of WWI, which some have described as laying the foundation for such publications as Private Eye and The Onion. Private Eye editor Ian Hislop and long time collaborator Nick Newman are penning the 60 minute film, simply titled Wipers Times. I hear that the film will be produced by Trademark Films, one of the production companies behind the BBC Two/HBO period drama Parade’s End. Trademark Films’ David Parfitt will produce, while Andy De Emmony (The Bletchley Circle) is attached to direct. At present it is unclear if the movie (should it get a green-light) will appear on BBC One or BBC Two.
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The fourth season of MTV’s reality series Geordie Shore will premiere on Tuesday November 6th at 10pm, it has been announced.
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USA Network won’t be moving forward with a second season of its drama series Political Animals. Though the six hour series had always been described as a “limited series event” the network had considered ordering a second season of the series. Unfortunately, despite almost universal critical acclaim Political Animals failed to find much traction, averaging a mere 2.1 million viewers during its six episode run. The decision not to move forward with a second second of Political Animals follows the recent cancellation of fellow USA series’ Common Law & Fairly Legal.
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Fox has trimmed the episode order for upcoming midseason comedy The Goodwin Games from 13 to 7, TVWise has confirmed. The reason for the reduced episode order is down to the network not having enough room on the schedule for a 13 episode freshman season. That is down to Fox recently upping the episode orders for The Mindy Project and New Girl to 24 episodes while increasing the number of episodes ordered for Ben and Kate to 19. The shortened first season of The Goodwin Games is expected to join Fox’s Tuesday night comedy block once the first season of Ben and Kate wraps its run in March.
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After hitting a series low rating last week with 3.2 million viewers, BBC One’s Hunted has continued its slide in the ratings with last night’s outing (episode 5 of 8) drawing in 3.1 million viewers and a 14% share. That represents a new series low for Hunted, which, week-to-week, is down some 100 000 viewers or 3%. Even so, the spy drama still won the 9pm time-slot by almost 0.6 million viewers. Sources at the BBC, however, were keen to stress that Hunted has consistently proved itself to be a big gainer in the consolidated ratings, which have seen the series increase the size of its audience by 27% for the premiere episode and 32% for episodes two and three.
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EXCLUSIVE: BBC/Little Comet have hired accomplished director Misha Manson-Smith (La La Land, Death In Gaza) to helm the six episode second season of BBC Three’s comedy series Pramface, TVWise has learned exclusively. Manson-Smith, repped by Casarotto Ramsay & Associates, replaces Daniel Zeff, who served as series director for the show’s six episode first season. Created by Chris Reddy, Pramface follows the daily lives of two soon-to-be teenage parents who should still be concentrating on their education. The comedy series is produced by Little Comet and stars Scarlett Alice Johnson, Sean Michael Verey, Anna Chancellor, Angus Deayton, Dylan Edwards and Yasmin Paige. Production on the show’s second season began on location in Edinburgh in August and is now winding down, with BBC Three eyeing a 2013 premiere.
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Channel 4 has picked up Greg Davies’ comedy pilot Man Down to series with a six episode order.
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