ITV unveils bumper line-up of brand new programming for Autumn 2022
- Damian Lewis, Guy Pearce, Anna Maxwell Martin, David Tennant, Hugh Quarshie, Deborah Ayorinde, Sarah Niles, Adeyinka Akinrinade, Ola Orebiyi, Vicky McClure, Aidan Turner, Adrian Dunbar and Karla-Simone Spence all star in ITV drama this season.
- Live entertainment and sport lead an unmissable line up as I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here! returns from the Australian jungle, the FIFA World Cup from Qatar and the England Lionesses’ Autumn Qualifiers.
- Big name entertainment shows include The Masked Dancer, The Voice UK and a return of Ninja Warrior UK.
- Powerful first person factual pieces from Jimmy Akingbola, Jeremy Paxman and John Bishop with his son Joe.
- Plus ITV’s forthcoming brand new, free streaming service ITVX will feature exclusive-to-streaming commissions A Spy Among Friends, Riches, Tell Me Everything, Without Sin and Litvinenko as well as comedy from PLEBS: Barbarian Invasion and blue chip factual from A Year On Planet Earth.
ITV today launches its autumn highlights which feature a rich variety of drama, brand new entertainment and blue chip factual, both on its main channel and its forthcoming brand new free streaming service ITVX.
This new content comes on the back of a bumper year for the channel. New half year consolidated ratings data has revealed that ITV has once again dominated the big TV genres so far in 2022 with three out of the four most watched new dramas on any channel or streamer as well as the top six entertainment shows. ITV is already on track for its biggest year yet in streaming having hit 1bn streams.
With a consolidated audience of 9.5 million viewers, ITV’s most watched drama of the year is Trigger Point, a nail bitingly tense thriller starring Vicky McCLure alongside Adrian Lester as bomb disposal experts; The Thief, His Wife and The Canoe was the channel’s second highest rating title with an average of 9.2 million with Our House starring Martin Compston and Tuppence Middleton coming in third with an average of 7.4 million viewers.
ITV’s entertainment slate continued to dominate viewing across this genre, with Britain’s Got Talent, The Masked Singer, Ant and Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway, Dancing on Ice plus new commissions Ant and Dec’s Limitless Win and Lee Mack’s 1% Club, taking the top six entertainment show spots of the year so far.
Overall, ITV has recently surpassed 1 billion streams, with No Return being the most-watched watched drama in terms of ITV Hub viewing, Ghislaine, Prince Andrew and the Paedophile being the most-watched factual programme and Love Island having its biggest ever series on the ITV Hub with over 250 million streams to date.
And ITV won a total of seven prestigious BAFTAS this year, more than any other channel or streamer.
Forthcoming drama on ITV main channel and ITVX
The remainder of 2022 promises terrific entertainment from all genres. Dramas include The Suspect, a gripping thriller starring Aidan Turner, Shaun Parkes and Anjli Mohindra. Turner plays Doctor Joe O’Loughlin who appears to have a perfect life with a devoted wife, loving daughter, successful practice as a criminal psychologist, media profile and publishing deal. When a young woman is found dead he is only too willing to offer help with his profiling and expertise. But as the investigation into the woman’s death gathers pace, we start to ask, do we know the real Joe, or does he have a secret life?
Lauren Lyle stars as Karen Pirie, a new cold case murder drama based on acclaimed author Val McDermid’s book The Distant Echo. DS Karen Pirie is a young and fearless Scottish investigator with a quick mouth and a tenacious desire for the truth. The series also stars writer and actress, Emer Kenny, who has written this adaptation, as well as Chris Jenks (Sex Education) and Zach Wyatt (Blithe Spirit).
ITV detective drama, Ridley, stars Adrian Dunbar in the title role as a retired detective, who is now working in a consultancy role, having resumed his partnership with former protégée, DI Carol Farman, played by Bronagh Waugh (Unforgotten, The Fall), who is now in charge of investigations.
Returning series include the last ever series of Doc Martin, plus Professor T, Van Der Valk, Jane Austen’s Sanditon and The Larkins.
ITVX Exclusives
ITVX – ITV’s forthcoming brand new and free streaming service – will also feature brand new drama titles, exclusively available on that platform.
Hotly anticipated cold war drama A Spy Among Friends, a series based on the New York Times best-selling book written by Ben Macintyre, will come to ITVX later this year. In collaboration with Sony Pictures Television, ITV Studios and Veritas Entertainment Group, the series produced in the UK stars Golden Globe® and Emmy® Award-winning actor, Damian Lewis (Homeland, Billions) and Emmy® Award-winner, Guy Pearce (Jack Irish, Mare of Easttown). Lewis will also serve as executive producer. The six-episode series dramatises the true story of Nicholas Elliott and Kim Philby, two British spies and lifelong friends. Philby was the most notorious British defector and Soviet double agent in history. This is a story of intimate duplicity; of loyalty, trust and treachery. Philby’s deeply personal betrayal, uncovered at the height of the Cold War, resulted in the gutting of British and American Intelligence.
Riches is a glossy, high stakes family drama in six parts, written and created by Abby Ajayi (Inventing Anna, How To Get Away With Murder) and produced by Greenacre Films. Deborah Ayorinde (Them, Truth Be Told) stars as Nina, the estranged daughter of self-made millionaire Stephen Richards played by Hugh Quarshie (Stephen, The Murder of Stephen Lawrence). Sarah Niles (Ted Lasso, I May Destroy You) plays Stephen’s second wife, Claudia, and Brendan Coyle (Downton Abbey, Requiem) is Stephen’s trusted advisor and confidante, Gideon. Hermione Norris (Cold Feet and Luther) will play Stephen’s long-standing and faithful PA, Maureen Dawson. The cast also includes Adeyinka Akinrinade (Top Boy, Temple), Ola Orebiyi (Cherry, A Brixton Tale), CJ Beckford (Sitting in Limbo, The Trial of Christine Keeler), Nneka Okoye (Grantchester, The A List) and Emmanuel Imani (Cobra, Black Earth Rising).
David Tennant and Mark Bonnar star in Litvinenko with David Tennant as Alexander Litvinenko, the former Russian Federal Security Services and KGB officer whose death from polonium poisoning in November 2006 triggered one of the most complex and dangerous investigations in the history of the Metropolitan Police. Written by acclaimed screenwriter George Kay Lupin, Criminal), Litvinenko is the story of the determined Scotland Yard Officers who worked for ten years to prove who was responsible.
Provocative new teen drama Tell Me Everything created by Mark O’ Sullivan (Lee and Dean, The Agency), and written by Mark O’Sullivan and Yemi Oyefuwa, explores what it’s like to be coming of age in the 2020s. Tell Me Everything introduces us to 16-year-old Jonny Murphy (Eden. H Davies), who is trying his best to navigate through this world. Growing up hasn’t been easy, and although loved by his friends and family, Jonny suffers from undiagnosed depression and anxiety which he does his best to hide. So when he is faced with the most gut-wrenching tragedy, Jonny has to decide – is he going to let events overtake him or is he going to learn how to live?
Without Sin is a four-part psychological thriller exploring the relationship which develops between a grieving mother and the man she believes murdered her daughter. BAFTA and RTS award winning actress Vicky McClure (Line of Duty, This is England, Broadchurch, Trigger Point) will play the leading role of Stella Tomlinson, whose 14-year-old daughter Maisy, is found dead at their family home with the bloodied, hooded figure of Charles Stone standing over her. Acclaimed film and television actor, Johnny Harris (The Salisbury Poisonings, Medici, Troy: Fall of a City) will star alongside Vicky as Charles.
Staying with ITVX, A Year On Planet Earth will showcase the many wonders of the natural world and will reveal the incredible ways in which all life is connected and how massive natural events affect the lives of individual animals. This unique and beautifully shot series is narrated by Stephen Fry.
PLEBS: Barbarian Invasion is a feature length version of the multi award winning comedy series which reunites Marcus, Grumio and Aurelius for one last time; and Loaded In Paradise is a brand new reality series that sees party loving pairs hop across Greece’s Aegean Islands in a race to take control of – and spend 50,000 euros.
Sporting highlights
Sports fans are well catered for this season with the FIFA World Cup coming from Qatar and the Women’s Rugby World Cup and fresh from their triumph at the UEFA Women’s Euros, the Lionesses will compete in the autumn qualifiers.
Brand new entertainment
Autumn also brings I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here! which makes a welcome return to ITV from the Australian jungle. And Peter Crouch takes a turn on The Masked Dancer panel as he joins Davina McCall, Oti Mabuse and Jonathan Ross in trying to uncover which twinkle toed celebrities are behind the mask and superstar coaches Anne-Marie, Olly Murs, Sir Tom Jones and will.i.am return to their spinning chairs on The Voice UK.
As well as hosting The Masked Dancer, Joel Dommett returns to head up the National Television Awards, and Carol Vorderman and Ashley Banjo will be back with more heartwarming stories of courage and heroism at the Pride of Britain Awards.
Anita Rani hosts a brand new series called Fastest Finger First which expands on the first round of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? At the end of each episode, whoever is in the seat when the Klaxon sounds will have won a place to be fast tracked to sit in the Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? hot seat in front of Jeremy Clarkson – by-passing the usual Fastest Fingers First round that opens the much-loved show which also returns this season.
RuPaul Charles makes an ITV debut with Celebrity Lingo and Ninja Warrior UK, the toughest series on TV is about to get tougher with a revamped and high octane new version.
Factual shows
Factual highlights include Paxman: Putting Up with Parkinson’s, which will follow Jeremy Paxman’s story of living with Parkinson’s disease since his formal diagnosis, 18 months ago. For the very first time, Jeremy Paxman will allow cameras into his life as he reflects on how Parkinson’s is impacting him.
Handle With Care: Jimmy Akingbola is a deeply personal film in which acclaimed actor and presenter Jimmy Akingbola tells his own story and in doing so, reveals the truth of growing up in the care system in England where the number of children in care has risen by a massive 28% in the past decade to almost half a million. Of the children in Britain awaiting adoption, over 40% are black, yet black foster families are rare in comparison, resulting in white parents raising children from other ethnicities and cultures. While exploring themes of identity, abandonment, the importance of role models and cultural connection, this thoughtful, engaging and emotional film, considers whether a loving family, no matter their ethnicity, is always more important than racial or cultural differences.
And comedian John Bishop and his son Joe will share the realities of hearing loss in a personal and insightful new documentary called Joe & John Bishop: Life after Deaf. This specially shot film will document John and Joe, who lost his hearing at the age of 15, as they embark upon a journey to understand more about the Deaf community and learn British Sign Language together.
Fresh Cuts is a brand new strand that will showcase films from five rising Black producer/directors commissioned to create films for Black History Month 2022. The five filmmakers – Louise Coleman, Yemi Adegbulu, Daniel Dempster, Jason Osborne and David Adeyemi – were selected for their innovative, contemporary ideas capturing Black Britishness for their first network 60-minute documentary for ITV
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