Splendid ITV Brit dramas picked up for South African viewers with Bodyguard going to Netflix South Africa and Vanity Fair going to M-Net on DStv.

The best of British drama keeps rolling to South African audiences with the terrific new spy drama Bodyguard that got picked up by Netflix while M-Net grabbed the sumptuous Vanity Fair period drama.

The rights to Britain's biggest new TV hit of the year, the spy drama Bodyguard has been snapped up by Netflix that will make Bodyguard available globally on Netflix including on Netflix SA in South Africa from 24 October, except for the United Kingdom, Ireland and China.

The 6-episode Bodyguard shown on the BBC in the United Kingdom is produced by the independent production company World Productions, owned by ITV, and was written by Jed Mercurio, the creator of Line of Duty, who was also the executive producer.

The riveting Bodyguard has kept British viewers on the edge of their seats in the story following the private protection officer David Budd (Richard Madden) from the Royalty and Specialist Protection Branch of London’s Metropolitan Police Service who is tasked with protecting the fictional British Home Secretary Julia Montague (Keeley Hawes).

He is opposed to her politics but falls in love with her after, which a racy, sexual relationship ensues while conspiracies swirl around them.

Meanwhile South African viewers will also soon get to see Vanity Fair, a co-production with Amazon, with the miniseries that has been show in the same timeslot in the UK on ITV, as Bodyguard on the BBC.

Vanity Fair however won't be on Amazon Prime Video in South Africa and Africa but on M-Net (DStv 101) that continues to rake in high-quality international drama series made outside of the United States to strengthen the content offering on MultiChoice's most premium channel on DStv.

Like Downton Abbey, Vanity Fair that is scheduled for a November starting date on M-Net, is a beautiful TV set piece based on William Makepeace Thackeray's 1848 novel about the poor but constantly scheming Becky Sharp (Olivia Cooke) looking for love and a life of luxury, astutely climbing the British social ladder.

The colourful 19th century era story is produced by Mammoth Screen, also an independent production company owned by ITV.

The international distribution of both Bodyguard and Vanity Fair is handled by ITV Studios Global Entertainment.

BBC Studios Africa renews Come Dine with Me SA for a 12-episode 5th season on BBC Brit, now looking for contestants.

BBC Studios has renewed Come Dine with Me South Africa for a 5th season on BBC Brit (DStv 120) that will start in 2019, with producers now looking for contestants for the 12 episodes of the new season.

South Africans interested in entering for the chance to host dinner parties and be judged by the other contestants have until Wednesday 29 August to enter at www.BBCSouthAfrica.com.

Production company Rapid Blue continues to produce the ITV Studios Global Entertainment format for BBC Studios, with the South African version that also features the voice-over narration of Dave Lamb.

The upcoming 5th season of Come Dine with Me SA will again film in Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg and Port Elizabeth.

"The popularity of the latest season of Come Dine With Me South Africa is testament to the fact that the local audience enjoy some home-grown entertainment and South African hosting antics," says Joel Churcher, general manager and vice president of BBC Studios in Africa.

"We had a break between seasons three and four and were overwhelmed not only by the return of the shows’ very loyal fans but also by how many new audiences the show attracted too."

"BBC Brit is excited to once again partner with Rapid Blue to offer a distinctly South African take on a hugely popular international format. We look forward to discovering some new vibrant, entertaining personalities to take part in the latest season and surprise and delight audiences across South Africa."

BBC Worldwide picks up Come Dine with me South Africa, produced by Rapid Blue, for a 4th season in 2018 on BBC Lifestyle after a 3 year absence.

After the SABC's botched mess of agreeing to pick up a 4th season of Come Dine with Me South Africa earlier this year and then embarrassingly losing the show after failing to sign contracts in time, the show will return to BBC Worldwide's BBC Lifestyle (DStv 174) where the previous 3 seasons aired.

The 4th season would have started broadcasting on the SABC's SABC3 channel in July with SABC3 that ran a call for entries on the channel but the revival of the South African show was abruptly scuppered with the SABC that

Now BBC Worldwide has picked up Come Dine with Me South Africa for a 4th season that will be broadcast in 2018.

In April 2014 BBC Worldwide said the ITV Global Studios Entertainment format show won't see any further local South African seasons on the BBC's channels in South Africa/Africa that started in 2011, as it's looking for a new locally produced format show for South Africa.

BBC Worldwide ended up going for The Great South African Bake Off that's already broadcast two seasons and production underway on a third season, produced by Rapid Blue.

Now Come Dine with me South Africa, also produced by Rapid Blue and again based on the ITV Studios Global Entertainment format, has been picked up by BBC Worldwide again after an absence of three years, with the show that is returning for a 4th season on BBC Lifestyle.

Each episode follows four strangers as they alternate hosting the others with dinners in their homes, with the winner that stands a chance of winning R10 000. The 4th season of Come Dine with me South Africa is now looking for South African contestants with people who can enter at BBCSouthAfrica.com until 6 August and with filming that will start later this year.

The 4th season of Come Dine with me South Africa will have 12 episodes and will be broadcast on BBC Lifestyle in early 2018. The Come Dine with Me format is now produced in 34 countries worldwide including Germany, France and Australia.

The show that delivered several stand-out South African characters during its first three seasons, says it aims to be "bolder, bigger and better than ever" when it returns and episodes will be filmed in Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg and Port Elizabeth.

"Come Dine with me South Africa quickly established itself as a South African sensation, taking us into the dining rooms of some of the country's most intriguing characters," says Joel Churcher, BBC Worldwide's general manager and vice president for Africa, announcing the show's return.

"I'm pleased that BBC Lifestyle is joining forces with Rapid Blue once more to offer a distinctly South African take on a hugely popular international format".

Come Dine with me South Africa is commissioned by Kirsty Hanson, BBC Worldwide commissioning editor who says that BBC Worldwide remains "dedicated to bringing shows that delight and entertain our audiences across the globe".

"The Come Dine with Me format has proved to be a consistent hit and we are very excited to cast the hopeful contestants for the 4th season and showcase all of the vibrant, fun and vivacious personalities found in South Africa."

ITV drama, Jekyll and Hyde will be available in South Africa on ShowMax within 24 hours after the Brit drama's debut in the United Kingdom.

The new ITV drama series, Jekyll and Hyde, will become available in South Africa through ShowMax within 24 hours after the new horror series starts in the United Kingdom.

Jekyll and Hyde, based on Robert Louis Stevenson's 1886 novel The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde, will start in Britain on Sunday 25 October, and will be available on the ShowMax from Monday 26 October.

A new episode will become available on the South African subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) service every week, within 24 hours after its shown in the United Kingdom. The first season has 10 episodes.

Naspers' ShowMax recently acquired the rights to Jekyll and Hyde as part of a new 125 hours content deal with ITV Studios Global Entertainment.

Jekyll and Hyde stars Tom Bateman from Da Vinci's Demons, Natalie Gumede and Richard E. Grant.

Set in 1930's London at a time of Hollywood glamour, aerodynamic cars and monster movies, the new TV drama will pay homage to the Stevenson novel and focus on the young, attractive yet troubled hero, Robert Jekyll, the grandson of the original doctor.

At the heart of the drama is Robert Jekyll's quest to discover his real identity, his true family history and the nature of his "curse". Jekyll transforms into Hyde in moments of extreme anger, stress and when his or the lives of others are threatened.

"Our goal from the outset has been to establish ShowMax as the most comprehensive, high quality SVOD content collection in Africa," says Victor Eckard, ShowMax's head of content, about the ITV content deal.

South Africa's ShowMax adds 125 hours of ITV Studios content to its subscription video-on-demand service, including new Jekyll and Hyde.

ShowMax has added 125 hours of content from ITV Studios Global Entertainment to its video-on-demand (VOD) service.

It gives ShowMax access to the brand new ITV Studios' action-adventure series Jekyll and Hyde, seasons one to three of the acclaimed drama Rectify, series one to three of the period drama Mr Selfridge with Jeremy Piven, the first season of the new TV series Good Witch and the drama Texas Rising with Bill Paxton, as well as the crime series Vera.

The deal was brokered by André Renaud, ITV's general senior sales executive for the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region.

"Our aim is to make our premium content available for viewers to watch whenever and wherever they like, so we are delighted that South African audiences will have the opportunity to enjoy some of our most popular recent dramas," says Dan Gopal, the executive vice president of EMEA distribution and global digital partners for ITV Studios Global Entertainment.

"Africa is one of the fastest growing markets for TV content and ShowMax is one of the major players in the region, so they are the ideal partner for our programming".

"Our goal from the outset has been to establish ShowMax as the most comprehensive, high quality SVOD content collection in Africa," says Victor Eckard, ShowMax's head of content.

"We're delighted to partner with ITVS GE to add these incredible programmes to the platform and look forward to a great working relationship".

Today's interesting TV stories to read from TV with Thinus - 23 September 2015

Tutankhamun drama series will film in South Africa from mid-October.
Sam Neill and Max Irons will star in the 4-part drama from ITV Studios based on Howard Carter and his discover of the boy-king pharaoh's tomb. ITV Studios Global Entertainment will distribute the show internationally.

BBC making big drama about (fall of) Troy.
Fall of the City will start later this year as an epic new drama series.

After America's ESPN dumped South Africa and Afric on DStv
times are getting tough as ESPN prepares to fire up to 300 ESPN workers.

Massive job cuts also coming to Al Jazeera (DStv 406 / StarSat 257).
Falling oil prices to blame for the Qatari TV news channel set to sack hundreds of workers worldwide soon. Internal email warns staff to get ready for "painful cuts".


"Hlaudi Motsoeneng is our Messiah".
Must-read laugh of the day: SABC employee Lungelo Gumede writes in The Sowetan that Hlaudi Motsoeneng is "the best boss we have ever had" and that at the SABC under Hlaudi Motsoeneng "hundreds of employees were freed from slavery".
Oh, and before Hlaudi, SABC employees allegedly were "forced to pay bribes to get shifts" and female workers allegedly were "forced to do sexual favours". You can't make this stuff up.


New DStv changes are unfair...
...says South Africa's commissioner of the Competition Commission, Tembinkosi Bonakele. Speaks in Namibia about how MultiChoice in Africa took out the most popular TV channels from the cheaper package and moved it to the more expensive package.

The clock is ticking for the SABC's "Teflon man".
The controversial and famously matricless Hlaudi Motsoeneng is facing a speeding bullet in the case before the Supreme Court of Appeals.

Don't get attached to FOX's new Minority Report.
The new science fiction drama Minority Report on FOX (DStv 125 / StarSat 131) is a failure - only 3.1 million viewers and in basically last place, this show is basically doomed just like last year's Almost Human. Meanwhile the fascinating Blindspot coming to M-Net (DStv 101) is tops.

Minority Report lacks imagination with its old and boring vision of the future. And how TV executives secretly now know within 15 minutes whether a new show will survive or get cancelled.


The new American TV season is already stumbling says AdAge.


Scream Queens is bad and a howler says The Los Angeles Times.
The new drama starts tonight on FOX (DStv 125 / StarSat 125) in South Africa. It's a missed opportunity and bad says TIME.  Scream Queens on FOX is bad and flat and Scream Queens goes from good to really bad quickly.


How long before it starts happening in South African television?
In America, actors and producers now "live-tweet" along with episodes and debut episodes to do publicity and help hype up interaction and awareness for TV shows.


"When you hear the term MultiChoice Content Showcase what comes to mind is boring"
For me as part of the South African press what comes to mind is the word "exclusion".
Anyway, who knew the SuperSport volleyball session in Mauritius rained out off?
All the gifts given to the press at the MultiChoice Content Showcase - like the Canon EOS Digital SLR camera.


Bloomberg Television is adding Bloomberg as a new morning show.
No word on whether it will be seen on Bloomberg Television (DStv 411) in South Africa and Africa when it starts on 5 October with David Westin and Stephanie Ruhle.

When Aaron Spelling ruled Television.
Your must-read, long-read article of the day.


MultiChoice celebrates 20 years of DStv in Uganda...
...with a party last Thursday night at the new MultiChoice head office and customer care centre in Kampala. Meanwhile there's a big "Multichoice" spelling mistake on its own dedication plaque.


Really? Sean Penn sues Empire co-creator Lee Daniels for $10 million.
Claims defamation and says Lee Daniels accused him of domestic violence in a comparison with Terrence Howard. Of course tied up Madonna in the 80s and physically assaulted her for hours - but you forgot about that.

ShowMax has no plans to increase its price.
The South African streaming video-on-demand (VOD) service will remain at R99 per month.

Trevor Noah will "re-introduce" The Daily Show as a 4-day miniseries.
The Daily Show will return on Comedy Central (DStv 122) as a 4-part series. "We're dividing the week into a four-part miniseries that will set the tone for what we hope the show will be," Trevor Noah tells Rolling Stone.

The choice of British TV programming expanding as MultiChoice adds the ITV Choice channel to DStv from 5 May.

There's more British TV programming than just the BBC, and from 5 May South African and the rest of Africa's DStv subscribers will get a bigger choice when the global British TV channel ITV Choice (DStv 123) becomes available on MultiChoice's DStv.

When ITV Choice, from ITV Studios Global Entertainment, launches in May it will be the first time since the closure of Carlton Select at the end of March 2003 that there will be competition on DStv in terms of general British entertainment television channels.

The British demise of Carlton Select exactly 12 years ago left only BBC Prime, later renamed BBC Entertainment (DStv 120), as the sole channel in the general British entertainment category.

From May ITV Choice, a commercial general entertainment TV channel broadcast globally in 40 countries, will instantly become competition for the BBC Worldwide supplied BBC Entertainment which has come in for criticism for showing old programming and taking too long to broadcast episodes of international hits like Downton Abbey which in the United Kingdom is actually an ITV shown and ITV Studios produced show.

It's in fact likely that over time several TV shows from ITV Studios currently seen on other DStv TV channels in Africa, ranging from The X Factor UK and Britain's Got Talent on M-Net, to Downton Abbey and Mr Selfridge on BBC Entertainment will migrate from those channels to ITV Choice.

Current BBC Entertainment shown programming like The Only Way is Essex, Who Wants to be a Millionaire UK, The Cube and M-Net's Broadchurch are actually shown in the United Kingdom on the commercial free-to-air channel ITV.

On MultiChoice, ITV Choice will be for DStv Premium subscribers across Africa only, with some programming like the popular British soaps Coronation Street and Emmerdale which will see episodes broadcast within 48 hours after it was shown in the United Kingdom.

ITV Choice says all other programming will be broadcast "very close" to UK transmission dates.

Although ITV Choice says the channel is broadcast in high definition (HD) it's not clear whether MultiChoice will broadcast this HD version of ITV Choice on DStv for its Premium subscribers from May.

ITV Choice didn't release a May schedule with the announcement, but says the channel's programming line-up at launch will include ITV Studios' prime time entertainment series Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway, Big Star's Little Star, Keep it in the Family, Get Your Act Together as well as shows like Eggheads and Coach Trip.

Drama series on ITV Choice at launch will include Poldark, Arthur & George which tells the story of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and ITV Studios' World War II drama Home Fires. The detective series Vera and Murdock Mysteries will also make their debut.

"We are delighted to bring ITV Choice to Africa for the first time with MultiChoice as our partners," says Nic van Zwanenberg, channel director of ITV Choice.

Nic van Zwanenberg says a key element to build ITV Choice is to show entertainment and drama programming "within days of it airing in the United Kingdom", promising that further programming expansion will be announced.

"Our customers love British content and when we decided to add more British channels, ITV was the natural choice," says Aletta Alberts, the general manager for content at MultiChoice South Africa.