Channel 4's new adult entertainment channel ;]

The channel is called 'More4', it lauches on Monday (October 10th). The logo looks a bit like this: http://www.media247.co.uk/skydigital...re4logo001.jpg If E4 is Channel 4 without the boring bits, More4 is Channel 4 without the silly bits. In other words, it's a more mature channel. This is the actual press release for More4: [Quote=More4 Launch pack] The launch of More4 on 10th October this year will be amongst the most significant milestones in Channel 4’s history. For the first time since the launch of the original Channel 4 service in November 1982, we will be introducing a new public service channel for the benefit of British audiences. No other commercially funded broadcaster in the UK would contemplate launching a channel of this scale and ambition. More4’s annual programme budget is similar to that of BBC 4 at launch, and well over half of that sum is committed to original UK dramas and documentaries, and a daily news service. This won’t be another digital repeats channel; More4 aims to make a significant public service contribution in its own right. Available free-to-air on Freeview, Sky Digital and digital cable, More4 will extend Channel 4’s offering to multi-channel audiences, joining E4 and FilmFour as one of the highest profile channels in millions of digital TV homes. Our ultimate aim is to ensure that Channel 4 is as relevant and as culturally influential in a post switchover world of hundreds of digital TV channels as it is now. That means maintaining our share of the TV audience in the face of fiercer and fiercer competition. A successful launch of More4 will be key to that. WHY MORE4? BY PETER DALE, HEAD OF MORE4 You know what it's like. You're flicking channels and you can't help feeling your heart sink a little. Hello – is anybody there? And weirdly, the more channels you have, the worse the feeling gets. Well I want More4 to change that. I want it to lift your spirits – with a mix of programmes that you won't find anywhere else on British television. Not more Nazis or more shopping but programmes that are surprising, outspoken and simply enjoyable. They'll also be imbued with the qualities that millions of people love about Channel 4. Above all I want it to be a digital channel that gives you a vivid and exciting sense of the world we live in. It'll show the best of world documentaries, some smart films, the highest quality news and current affairs and big pieces of home grown contemporary drama. There'll also be exclusive spin-offs from favourite Channel 4 programmes, premiers of brand new shows and, at last, The West Wing has a permanent new primetime home. Modern, lively, and talked-about, it'll be a channel which restores your faith in intelligent television. And proof that a new digital channel, far from giving you that sinking feeling, can be something to shout about. (Forgive me if I raise my voice.) LAUNCH PROGRAMME A Very Social Secretary A wickedly funny feature-length satire from the pen of Alistair Beaton (Downwardly Mobile, Feelgood) inspired by a private affair held up for very public scrutiny. Bernard Hill (The Deal), Robert Lindsay (My Family) and Victoria Hamilton (Goodbye Mr. Chips) star as David Blunkett, Tony Blair and Kimberley Quinn. Doon Mackichan (Smack the Pony), Alex Jennings (Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason) and Stuart McQuarrie (Life Begins) complete the principal cast of this comedy drama with its hilarious observations of high government, party politics and media frenzy. Stranger than fiction but rooted in fact, A Very Social Secretary is the portrayal of a political scandal that spun out of control and straight onto the front pages for press and public scrutiny. Says Beaton: “Tory ministers used to find scandal in low places. New Labour prefers to get its trotters into the top trough. This film explores how Blunkett became a metaphor for Tony Blair’s decadent regime.” A Very Social Secretary is directed by Jon Jones (The Alan Clark Diaries) and produced by Hal Vogel (Stealing Lives). Executive Producer is David Aukin (The Government Inspector, Hamburg Cell). DAILY PROGRAMMING More4 News A new, distinctive daily news programme, capitalising on the strengths of the awardwinning Channel 4 News and its reputation for original journalism, powerful reportage and insightful analysis. Presented by Sarah Smith, More4 News will always carry the most important news stories of the day, updated from Channel 4 News, and generate its own coverage of breaking news. Broadcast five days a week from Monday to Friday, More4 News will have a distinctive remit to introduce new and challenging perspectives on events, at home and abroad. A series of independent contributors will offer informed argument, opinion and analysis in a range of specialist areas. The programme will also increase the diversity of guests and views normally found on traditional news programmes. It will give a platform to voices not normally heard on mainstream media. The show will be half an hour long, from 8-8.30pm. There will also be a short summary just before 6pm The Last Word The Last Word is a brand new daily topical talk show for More4. Airing Monday to Thursday at 11pm, The Last Word is hosted by a rotating line up of presenters who will be joined each day by an array of the brightest and best journalists, cultural commentators and comedians. Covering culture, politics and the big issues of the day in an irreverent, entertaining and intelligent way, The Last Word will provide an alternative take on the days' events and anticipate the big stories of tomorrow through lively debate, discussion and the occasional diatribe. Covering both domestic and international topics, The Last Word will also go beyond the headlines, to uncover the weird and wonderful stories which other programmes have yet to find. The Last Word’s lively debates will be punctuated by short films ranging from controversial polemics to confrontational on-the-street polls. Fully interactive, we’ll be inviting The Last Word’s audience to reveal their opinions in our daily poll, and will invite opinionated viewers onto the show to have their say. Covering the topics we’re all talking about The Last Word will provide a daily dose of the most intelligent, enjoyable and irreverent topical debate on tv. The Daily Show with Jon Stewart One anchor, five correspondents and US television’s smash-hit irreverent take on global news. The Emmy and Peabody Award-winning Daily Show With Jon Stewart, from the brilliant Comedy Central stable, takes a reality-based look at news, trends, pop culture, current events, politics, sports and entertainment with an alternative point of view. Anchorman Jon Stewart (The Larry Sanders Show, Big Daddy) and his team comment on the day's stories, employing actual news footage, in-studio guests and on-the-spot coverage of important events. Recorded on weekday evenings before a New York audience, the show will be screened the following night in the UK. Stewart’s guests include major stars from the world of film, television and music. A witty alternative to trawling through newspapers and flicking through 24 hour news services, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart offers an alternative look at the headlines and headline-makers, unburdened by objectivity, journalistic integrity or even accuracy. MORE4 EXCLUSIVE Animal Research (title tbc) This feature length drama documentary explores one of the most controversial issues today – animal experimentation. Those trying to stop it have been named ‘quasi terrorists’ stopping at nothing to achieve their objectives. Those who are engaged in animal research do so under siege – if they haven’t been singled out already, they work in secret and under threat. Are these people pioneering heroes trying to save human life and cure disease, or are they complicit in an animal holocaust where millions of animals suffer terrible pain in the arrogant name of science? This film follows the fictional stories of laboratory biologist Bob Thornwell, and animal rights activist Samantha McFarland, as their lives intertwine and violently clash. It is through these principal characters and their radically different perspectives that we see the animal rights debate and the people involved over several turbulent years. The laboratory survives and the testing continues but Thornwell and McFarland pay a heavy price for their beliefs. Throughout the programme, documentary interviews will look at the broader questions of the debate, informing the human stories of the drama. Monkey Love From the 1950s through to the 1970s, American psychologist Harry Harlow carried out some of the most notorious experiments ever performed in an animal laboratory. In his ‘Well of Despair’ baby monkeys became psychotic after being hung upside down in total darkness for up to two years. With his ‘Iron Maiden’ infant primates were confronted by a placid surrogate mother that suddenly began to tear at their flesh. So what motivated Harry Harlow to conduct such horrifying experiments? Experiments that were instrumental in the creation of the animal rights movement. Bizarrely, the answer is love. Harry Harlow’s work was an attempt to understand the nature of love, particularly that between mother and child. And it is his work that we benefit from today. For Harlow revolutionised and brought warmth to the way we parent infants. He influenced crucial policies that operate in children’s homes, social service agencies and the birthing industry in Britain and throughout the world today. Monkey Love explores the complex character of Harry Harlow, the nature of his experiments and their legacy today. Plus The Devil’s Challenge, a debate show in which a guest will be subjected to a number of experiences that will test his/hers firmly held point of view on animal experimentation. Morgan Spurlock Week Oscar nominated filmmaker Morgan Spurlock visits the UK to take over More4 for one week only when the channel premiers his new hit US series 30 Days. Morgan will guest present The Last Word for a week and there will be another chance to see Super Size Me, a tongue-in-cheek and burger-in-hand look at why Americans are so fat. 30 Days “Equal parts funny and sobering, and a million times funnier than most shows on TV.” TV Guide (US) From Academy Award nominee Morgan Spurlock (Super Size Me) comes 30 Days, a new series where Morgan will explore what life changing experiences are possible in 30 days. The concept for the show stemmed from the transformation Spurlock underwent when he ate nothing but fast food for 30 days in his movie Super Size Me. Now, Spurlock applies the experimental gimmick of Super Size Me to new landscapes, all with a political edge. What would happen if people spent 30 days living in someone else’s shoes? In each programme, Spurlock asks a volunteer to immerse themselves completely in a new and alien lifestyle, to live as others do. In the first film, Spurlock himself attempts to survive on the minimum wage for a month. Subsequent films include a devout Christian living in a Muslim community, a homophobe moving to San Francisco’s notoriously gay Castro district, two professional Americans moving to a remote ecovillage, and a mother who binge drinks for 30 days as a lesson to her daughter. The West Wing (new sixth season) Now in its sixth season, the Emmy Award-winning series The West Wing finds a new permanent home on More4. The behind-the-scenes look at another year in the life of the eclectic group of frenzied staffers in the Oval Office stars Stockard Channing, Dulé Hill, Allison Janney, Joshua Malina, Janel Moloney, Richard Schiff, John Spencer, Bradley Whitford, and Martin Sheen as the President. In addition to Mary McCormack becoming a series star in her role as brash new Deputy National Security Advisor Kate Harper, The West Wing boasts some high profile additions to its recurring cast in season six. Five-time Emmy Award winner Alan Alda (M*A*S*H, ER) plays Arnold Vinick, a Republican senator from California who has Presidential ambitions, Emmy winner Jimmy Smits (NYPD Blue, L.A. Law) comes onboard as three-term Houston Congressman Matthew Santos. And Sam Robards (American Beauty, Life as a House) reprises his role as Greg Brock, a member of the press corps. Downfall UK TV Premiere More4 will be regularly screening the very best films from around the world, leading in the autumn with the UK TV premiere of Downfall, Oliver Hirschbiehel’s stunning, Oscar-nominated portrayal of life in Hitler’s bunker, as the allies advance through Berlin, with Bruno Ganz as the doomed dictator. Hirschbiehel shows Hitler as a human being, beset in turn by both doubt and then total confidence in the German people’s will to fight to the end. Hitler is surrounded by ‘yes-men’, including Albert Speer (Heino Ferch), Heinrich Himmler (Ulrich Noethen) and Joseph Goebbels (Ulrich Matthes) who, while assuring him of victory, are privately planning their own escape or destruction. Ganz, ironically Swiss by birth, gives a towering performance as Hitler, ranting at the remaining handful of officers in the bunker while his Reich collapses around him, unable to either believe what will happen or accept the possibility of defeat. Hirschbiehel’s film is never sympathetic, always believable and ends with an interview with Hitler’s secretary, Traudl Junge (played in the film by Alexandra Maria Lara) whose coda is a chilling reminder of a madman’s legacy. Bruno Ganz – From the Stage to the Flashlights To coincide with More4’s UK TV premiere of Bernd Eichinger and Oliver Hirschbiegel’s new feature Downfall, the critically acclaimed feature film about Hitler’s last days in the Berlin bunker, More4 is screening this timely documentary charting the life and career of the actor playing Hitler, Bruno Ganz. Ganz’s intense and layered portrayal of Hitler in Downfall was hailed by critics across the globe. Here, he reveals his motivations, and also his reservations, about taking on such a provocative and sensitive role. The documentary traces Ganz’s acting career from his early days in German theatre in the 1960s, to his global recognition playing lovelorn angel Damiel in the internationally acclaimed Wim Wender feature Wings Of Desire in 1987, and through to his latest, most controversial work. Featuring exclusive on-location access to Ganz during the filming of Downfall, this is an intimate and revealing portrait of one of Europe’s great actors. Curb Your Enthusiasm (new fourth season) Starring Seinfeld co-creator Larry David as himself, this off-kilter comedy series presents an unflinching, self-deprecating depiction of his life. Each episode features cinema verité footage of David at home, at work and around town as he gets into predicaments often involving real-life celebrities. Series 4 guest stars include Ben Stiller, Mel Brooks, David Schwimmer, Moon Unit Zappa and Nathan Lane. Georgi and the Butterflies A documentary film from award-winning screenwriter and director Andrey Paounov, Georgi and the Butterflies tells the captivating tale of one man and his dream. As director of the Home for Psychologically Challenged Men, situated in a 16th century monastery near the Bulgarian capital of Sofia, Dr Georgi Lulchev fulfils the role of psychiatrist, neurologist, administrator, entrepreneur and amateur chef. His dream is to create a farm in the yard of the Home, where his troubled patients can raise snails, ostriches and pheasants, and produce silk fibres and soy bread. In a country where 80% of the population live in poverty, every day is marked by the struggle to survive. To overcome the shortage of funds, Dr Georgi Lulchev has devised myriad money making schemes. Over the last 15 years, he has tried to implement some very unconventional business ideas – often with little success. But always he has resumed his efforts with unflagging enthusiasm. This is a story full of butterflies, silk and schizophrenics, about misery, joy, optimism and compassion. Son of Mine Broadcaster and campaigner Darcus Howe (White Tribe, Who You Callin’ a ******?) is terrified his youngest son, Amiri, is throwing his life away and may wind up in prison – if not dead. Son of Mine charts his attempts to understand and ‘save’ Amiri who has clashed with the law on many occassions. The pair struggle through a series of setbacks over a period of six months, their relationship gradually shifting until they arrive at an emotional reconciliation on a chaotic trip to the countryside. The youngest of seven, Amiri was born in Trinidad before coming to live in Britain after he witnessed the bloody attempted assassination of his step-father. Darcus believes his troubled son is representative of a ‘lost generation’ of young black men – an ‘issue’ never far from the tabloid pages. Son of Mine is Darcus’ most personal film to date, offering unprecedented access to his private life and a unique take on a contemporary subject. Documentary Films on More4 More4 will be screening the very best documentary films, a genre that has played to packed cinemas. Included in the autumn season are the free-to-view UK TV premieres of The Corporation and Capturing the Friedmans. The Corporation is Mark Achbar and Jennifer Abbott’s dissection of the power of American business. Using graphics, wit and chilling interviews, they show how corporations exploit workers at home and abroad without any regard for the workers, the environment or the resources. Capturing the Friedmans is Andrew Jarecki’s Oscar-nominated documentary about an all-American family torn apart by multiple counts of child molestation against the father and eldest son. Morgan Spurlock’s Super Size Me, the Sundance and Edinburgh award-winning film, sees him subsist for a whole month on McDonald's meals but broadens into a coruscating attack on the fast food industry laced with both wit and horror. Touching the Void is Kevin MacDonald’s gripping BAFTA-winning drama-documentary for FilmFour, telling the story of Joe Simpson and Simon Yates, two mountaineers who survived an awful ordeal in the Peruvian Andes. Michael Moore’s Cannes-winning Fahrenheit 9/11 is a scathing indictment of the US administration from Bush’s election, through the attack on the World Trade Center, to his invasion of Iraq. Police Investigations This three-part series contrasts the way police forces strive to achieve justice in three very different areas of the world – Africa’s Ivory Coast, the Arctic frontier town of Lllulissat in Greenland, and Roubaix in France. The first episode visits Abidjan on the Ivory Coast and follows one of the country’s most senior officers as he tries to track down three men who murdered his colleague. Following flimsy clues and suspicious tip-offs, the team intimidate and beat confessions out of their suspects in an attempt to achieve the desired results. A community of hunters and fishermen reside in Lllulissat, a frontier town 250 miles north of the Arctic Circle, where an extremely tolerant notion of crime and punishment co-exists with a high incidence of violence. Cameras follow two cases in this second programme – a mother of four who has killed her husband and a hunter who has kicked his wife to within an inch of her life. The third programme follows two detectives from Roubaix’s Police Department as they investigate three cases involving arson, a missing girl and the death of an elderly woman. The detectives’ daily investigative work is carried out in a once prosperous city, which is now stricken by high levels of unemployment. Films On More4 Showing on More4 in the autumn is the free-to-view UK TV premiere of Peter Mullan’s award-winning The Magdalene Sisters, which tells the stories of Ireland’s infamous Magdalene laundries, brutal institutions run by nuns for single mothers, orphans and ‘girls who might get into trouble’, with Geraldine McEwan as the sister who rules through fear and violence and, in a stunning film debut, Nora-Jane Noon as the rebellious Bernadette, determined her spirit will not be broken. There will be the free-to-view UK TV premiere of Terence Davies’ House of Mirth, based on Edith Wharton’s novel, which stars Gillian Anderson in her breakthrough film role as a member of 1920s New York society whose life and prospects are slowly destroyed by poisonous gossip, gambling debts and finally, an evil rumour that destroys her social standing. And there is a chance to see classics of the British cinema, including Neil Jordan’s acclaimed thriller The Crying Game, with one of cinema’s most famous ‘shock’ endings, the Oscar-winning The Madness of King George, with Nigel Hawthorne in the title role and Dance With a Stranger, starring Miranda Richardson as Ruth Ellis, the last woman to be hanged in Britain. Richard & Judy’s Wine Club The hugely successful Richard & Judy’s Wine Club comes to More4 in a special five-part spin off series. Featuring insightful travelogues and wines selected and tasted by experts, the show aims to debunk popular myths and encourage viewers to discover more about, and savour, the wines of the New World. The series covers many aspects, from tasting techniques to the process of wine making, harvesting and cellaring, giving people the confidence to be more discerning and adventurous in their choice of wine. SECOND OPPORTUNITY TO SEE 50 Greatest Documentaries A celebration of the wealth and variety of factual programming shown theatrically and on UK television. This three-hour long special, shown originally on Channel 4, will feature the 50 greatest factual films, voted for by industry professionals, film makers and television critics, which over the years have provided us with some extraordinary views on extraordinary lives. To complement this programme, More4 will be offering viewers a chance to see some of those classic films in its first quarter, including FilmFour’s Touching The Void, Kevin Macdonald’s BAFTA winner about the astonishing will to survive and the strength of the human spirit; Filmmaker Morgan Spurlock’s Oscar nominated Super Size Me, in which he subsists for a whole month on McDonalds meals; Roger and Me, Michael Moore’s classic 1989 polemic about General Motors CEO Roger Smith and the consequences of his downsizing strategy in Flint, Michigan; and Kim Longinotto’s Divorce Iranian Style: Funny and tragic in equal measure, Longinotto charts several weeks in an Iranian divorce court. Best of Channel 4 More4 will provide viewers with a valuable second chance to see the most talked about shows this autumn from Channel 4. Highlights of the C4 autumn schedule that will be repeated on More4 will include The Queen’s Sister, Jamie’s Great Escape, The Year London Blew Up, The Somme, Demolition, Priest Idol, The Unteachables and David Starkey’s Monarchy Series II. As well as the second chance to see highlights of the current C4 schedule, More4 will offer viewers the opportunity to watch classic US series The Sopranos and ER from the very beginning. COMING UP IN 2006 Nick Broomfield Season More 4 dedicates a week to one of the true greats of contemporary documentary – Nick Broomfield. The season will include a new film from Nick in which he returns to South Africa to find out what has happened to the infamous white supremacist Eugene Terreblanche, subject of his groundbreaking documentary The Leader, The Driver and The Driver’s Wife. The film will launch a retrospective season of Nick’s work. Metallica: Some Kind of Monster (free-to-air premiere) In 2001 Metallica, one of heavy metal's top groups, met to record the album St Anger. But, as Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky's documentary illustrates, it was no easy ride. Bass player Jan Newsted quit the band, singer James Hetfield checked into re-hab and Phil Towle, the therapist they hired to try and calm down tensions in the studio, was quite happy to pocket $40,000 a month – until the group finally managed to agree on one thing and sacked him. If this mix of tempers flaring, Hetfield's post-rehab mantras and Towle's calming techniques recalls Spinal Tap, don't be surprised, but this is also true and totally fascinating rock 'n roll. And they did finish the album. Perfect Home Alain de Botton presents this intriguing guide to the central principles of architecture, connecting the seemingly small dilemmas we all face about how to decorate and design our houses to the big philosophical questions: what is beauty? How do buildings speak to us and shape us? And above all: how do we want to live? Taking a deliberately multicultural approach, including discussions of Islamic and Zen Buddhist aesthetics, the series will pull together a series of general principles which can act as a road map for creating buildings that will make us truly happy. Moore4 More4 becomes Moore4 when it celebrates the work of Michael Moore, George Bush’s public enemy number one, including Farenheit 9/11, Bowling for Columbine and Roger and Me. Other future highlights include a season curated by critically acclaimed film maker Angus MacQueen about contemporary Russia, and a season exploring life in Iraq and the impact of the West’s intervention. Curb your Enthusiasm series 5 and West Wing series 7 will also air on More4 in 2006.