Articles about Channel 5
No laughing matter
Alex Smith, creative director at Big Boys and Stath Lets Flats producer Roughcut, considers the challenge of moving into drama when you’re known for being funny as the company launches Channel 5 thriller Coma.
Channel 5 hires new Teacher
Channel 5 has ordered a second season of its 2022 drama The Teacher, featuring a different story and a new cast led by Kara Tointon, Will Mellor and Emmett J Scanlan.
Channel 5 names The Wives
Jo Joyner, Angela Griffin and Tamzin Outhwaite will lead the cast of Channel 5 drama The Wives.
Channel 5, Acorn TV investigate detective series Ellis
Sharon D Clarke (Showtrial) will take the lead in Ellis, a detective series commissioned by Channel 5 in the UK and Acorn TV.
Finding inspiration
DQ tracks down Finders Keepers creator and writer Dan Sefton to talk about the making of the Channel 5 series, which introduces two characters who hope their discovery of buried treasure will solve all their problems – only to find it brings them a host of new troubles.
Coping with Creatures
All Creatures Great & Small director Andy Hay offers an insight into the making of the period drama and reflects on working with a rambunctious goat in an episode from its fourth season.
One of a Kind
Paramount+ drama The Killing Kind delves into a hidden part of London to tell the story of barrister confronting her relationship with a troubled former client. DQ visits the set to discover the secrets behind this adaptation of Jane Casey’s novel.
Watch out for Blindspot
Bafta-nominated director Jordan Hogg tells DQ about Channel 5 crime thriller Blindspot, which features a breakout performance from wheelchair user Beth Alsbury and sees ex-EastEnders star Ross Kemp return to acting for the first time in 15 years.
Quite the Catch
As one of the busiest actors in UK television, Jason Watkins reflects on some of his biggest roles to date and tells DQ why he wanted to break new ground with psychological thriller The Catch.
In the Witness box
Nina Toussaint-White opens up about about starring in Channel 5’s tense thriller Witness Number 3, her love of the theatre and the challenge of juggling life as an actor with being a new mum.
Blanc canvas
Actors and co-writers Sally Lindsay and Sue Vincent share their experience of creating Channel 5 and Acorn TV drama The Madame Blanc Mysteries, explaining how they came up with its characters and tackled multiple languages on screen.
History in the making
Anne Boleyn writer Eve Hedderwick Turner and historical advisor Dan Jones take DQ inside this three-part re-examination of Henry VIII’s second wife and discuss how they sought to put a fresh spin on a historical drama.
Intruder alert
Actors Elaine Cassidy, Tom Meeten and Sally Lindsay look back on their experience filming Channel 5 thriller Intruder, in which a couple’s idyllic life is sent spiralling after they become victims of a break-in.
In deep water
Jason Maza, executive producer of The Drowning, tells DQ about transforming a film script into this four-part thriller and how the production overcame obstacles presented by the pandemic.
Deception point
Chloë Thomas, the director of psychological thriller The Deceived, tells DQ about filming the four-part drama, channelling Alfred Hitchcock and burning down the set.
Let the wrong one in
Julie Graham leads the cast of Penance, a three-part psychological miniseries about one woman’s grief and what happens when she befriends a potentially deadly stranger.
Rogue caller
Sally Lindsay’s out for revenge in psychological drama Cold Call, in which she plays the unwitting victim of telephone fraudsters who is pushed to increasing extremes in her pursuit of justice.
Strange bedfellows boost TV
From E4 and Netflix to BBC2 and FX, the scripted TV business is thriving thanks to unlikely collaborations. Andy Fry reports.
BBC makes premature call for Midwife
This week Andy Fry looks at the last burst of commissions and renewals before the festive break, a new project for Downton Abbey’s Michelle Dockery and Amazon’s latest assault on the pay TV market.
Audiences superserved with hero shows
AS US network CBS prepares to launch Supergirl, the much-anticipated series starring Glee’s Melissa Benoist, DQ takes a look at the current boom in superhero shows and assesses the prospects of a drama that boasts genuine girl power.