Investigation Discovery Orders Triple Hit of Real Crime Commissions
The UK’s biggest real-life crime channel gets even bigger with a move into the entertainment EPG with Virgin Media on Tuesday 29 November – channel 170 for ID and 171 for ID+1
LONDON, 19 October 2016 – Investigation Discovery (ID), the UK’s number one real-life crime channel today unveils a slate of original UK commissions ahead of a jump up the electronic programme guide into Virgin Media’s entertainment section, moving from factual.
The ‘triple hit’ of real crime commissions; British Police Murdered on Duty, Britain’s Deadliest Lovers and Faking It: Tears of a Crime come as the channel invests in original, local content to build audiences and extend its lead as the pay TV channel with the longest average session length, excluding kids and movies, at over 35 minutes.
British Police Murdered on Duty, presented by Rav Wilding, commemorates the police officers murdered in the line of duty. The 3×60 produced by Woodcut Media tells the stories of the most high profile police murders of the past 50 years including the infamous Shepherd’s Bush murders, Dale Cregan’s murder of PC Nicola Hughes and PC Fiona Bones and the murder of PC Ian Broadhurst. Keshet International has worldwide distribution rights and will launch it under the title Murdered in the Line of Duty at MIPCOM 2016.
Britain’s Deadliest Lovers (6×60) produced by Crackit Productions details real-life stories of love that end in murder. Through subtle, stylised reconstruction, personal archives and interviews with the victim’s and killer’s families, the real crime series brings to life six fascinating stories about the destructive capacity of love. This includes the real story behind hit drama The Secret, Northern Ireland’s most notorious double murders committed by dentist Colin Howell who is serving a minimum of 21 years for gassing his wife and love rival with the help of his lover.
Faking It: Tears of a Crime, a 2×60 special produced by Shearwater Media, looks at the phenomenon of high profile criminal cases where people publically feign innocence about a crime they have committed, such as the case of Mick Philpott found guilty of causing the death of six of his children by arson. From parents who have kidnapped their own children to husbands who have murdered their wives, the series looks at criminals who tried to deceive the public into believing that they too were the victims, rather than the perpetrators of crime.
Clare Laycock, VP Head of TLC and Investigation Discovery at Discovery Networks UK & Ireland comments: “Investigation Discovery is thriving with its ‘real crime, all the time’ positioning, tapping into what is a hugely popular and growing genre. The first ever slate of original UK commissions enriches the schedule with fascinating, dark and complex stories of real crime that shook the nation.”
“These latest commissions are British crime content at its very best and this trio of titles deliver exactly what our ID viewers crave,” said Mark Procter, Discovery’s Acting Head of Factual-Entertainment. “The creative way these talented producers plan to retell the grizzly, shocking and sometimes unashamedly tabloid stories deliver on our ambition to produce quality UK crime content that sits comfortably alongside our international programming.”
The slate was ordered by Clare Laycock and commissioned by Mark Procter. For ID, Steve Jones is the EP on Britain’s Deadliest Lovers and Faking It: Tears of a Crime and Natalie Smith is the EP for British Police Murdered on Duty. Kate Beal is the EP at Woodcut Media, Nick Aarons is the EP at Crackit Productions and Steve Anderson is the EP at Shearwater Media where Nick London is the Producer, Director.
ENDS
About Discovery
Discovery Communications (Nasdaq: DISCA, DISCB, DISCK) is the leader in global entertainment, reaching 3 billion cumulative viewers in more than 220 countries and territories. Discovery satisfies curiosity, entertains and inspires viewers with high-quality content through global brands, led by Discovery Channel, TLC, Investigation Discovery, Animal Planet, Science and Turbo/Velocity, as well as U.S. joint venture network OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network, and through the Discovery Digital Networks portfolio, including Seeker and SourceFed. Discovery owns Eurosport, the leading pan-regional sports entertainment destination across Europe and Asia-Pacific. Discovery also is a leading provider of educational products and services to schools, including an award-winning series of K-12 digital textbooks, through Discovery Education. In Northern Europe, 30 Discovery brands reach 279 million cumulative subscribers with programming customized in seven languages. For more information, please visit www.discoverycommunications.com.
About Woodcut Media
With offices in London and Hampshire, Woodcut Media, a member of the family of Bob & Co businesses, is one of the fastest growing indies in the UK producing a broad range of factual programming. In addition to being one of the leading true crime producers in the UK (Holloway: Women Behind Bars, The Krays: The Prison Years and Murder Casebook), Woodcut Media’s rapidly growing catalogue also includes specialist factual series (Defenders of the Sky and Combat Trains),premium one off docs (The Ivy, Cut From A Different Cloth and Mandela, My Dad and Me featuring Idris Elba) and factual entertainment shows (Around the World in 80 Tricks and Animal Antics). Woodcut Media’s operations are spearheaded by leading doc producer Kate Beal, alongside former BBC exec Derren Lawford as Creative Director and former Lion TV founder Jeremy Mills as Chairman.
About Crackit Productions
Crackit Productions was launched in 2008 and creates intelligent TV that balances integrity with compelling content across Factual, Features and Factual Entertainment series and one-off programmes for all the major UK channels as well as US broadcasters. Recent critical and ratings successes include twenty-part series, Stop, Search, Seize for Sky 1; ITV’s primetime series Bargain Shop Wars; returning series Britain’s Horror Homes and Countdown to Murder for Channel 5; new format Sex Pod for 5*; ratings hit Katie Hopkins: My Fat Story for TLC and Baby Faced Brides and Baby Faced Mums for 5*.
