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102-472: Christopher Antony Chibnall (born 21 March 1970) is an English television writer and producer, best known as the creator and writer of the award-winning ITV mystery-crime drama Broadchurch (2013-17) and as the third showrunner of the 2005 revival of the BBC sci-fi series Doctor Who (2018–22). Chibnall wrote five episodes of the series under previous showrunners Russell T Davies and Steven Moffat , and he
204-484: A Merlin channel in 2023 for U.S. viewers, in addition to a separate Merlin channel airing on Amazon Prime's Freevee . In the U.S., the show is also available on a variety of on-demand paid and free ad-supported streaming platforms, including Pluto TV , Tubi , Amazon's Prime Video and Britbox . Series one and two were released on DVD in the United Kingdom, United States, and Australia. Series three
306-618: A BBC One Sunday night slot, but this was ultimately not commissioned. The Shine version of the project was put into development in late 2006, commissioned by Controller of BBC One Peter Fincham and BBC Head of Fiction Jane Tranter , with Fincham keen on having more series on his channel which embodied "three generation TV – that's TV you can watch with your grandparents and children. There's not enough of that about." The series went into production in March 2008, with filming in Wales and France (at
408-614: A Time Lord (1986), especially the Terror of the Vervoids segment. In 2005, Chibnall was appointed head writer and co-producer of science-fiction drama Torchwood . The series, a spin-off from Doctor Who , premiered on BBC Three in October 2006 to a then record-breaking audience for a non-sport programme digital channel broadcast in the UK. The programme went on to win "Best New Drama" at
510-511: A central service under the STV brand. The company had several disputes with ITV plc in the late 2000s and early 2010s over network programming. STV aimed to broadcast more Scottish programmes at peak times and so removed several key ITV plc programmes from their schedule in July 2009 including The Bill , Midsomer Murders and Lewis . Despite STV's explanation of expense, ITV plc were angered by
612-411: A considerable amount of syndicated unscripted US programmes in daytime during the 90s, such as Judge Judy and The Jerry Springer Show . By 1996, ITV had been quiet with US series in primetime, particularly as Channel 4 and Sky One increased the competition for securing the most popular US dramas and sitcoms. However, that summer, ITV debuted the primetime soap Savannah , in a 9pm Friday slot. It
714-493: A couple of hours after midnight, replacing gambling broadcasts: the time between the news and the shopping is usually kept for re-runs, with ITV repeating its primetime entertainment shows, films, or sports programming from ITV4. ITV continues with its regular scheduled programming after the shopping service finishes at around 3am with showbiz news bulletin FYI Extra and repeats, many of which have on-screen BSL signing for
816-554: A decline in viewers, it was moved to cable network Syfy where series 2 began on 2 April 2010. On 19 September 2009, series 2 began airing on BBC One. On 5 September 2010, BFI Southbank in London previewed Episodes 1 and 2 of series 3 for its September Film Funday programme. A ten-episode fourth series was confirmed on 2 October 2010, though it was rumoured to air in early 2012, later than its usual slot in autumn, so that it would not clash with Doctor Who which would possibly air during
918-400: A dedicated CITV programming block now broadcasting on ITV2 every morning, from 2 September 2023. Schools programming on the network began in 1957 in some regions and expanded as more regions began broadcasting. It was a contractual obligation for some ITV companies to broadcast schools programming, and this was initially broadcast as part of the normal scheduling. The programmes were moved into
1020-464: A detective series for ITV called Broadchurch , starring David Tennant , Olivia Colman , Jodie Whittaker , Andrew Buchan , Arthur Darvill , Pauline Quirke and David Bradley . The series received overwhelmingly positive reviews from critics and audiences alike. It followed the story of the fictional seaside town of Broadchurch, struggling to come to terms with the possible murder of a young boy. Viewing figures peaked at nearly 9 million viewers in
1122-485: A kid that I would have the honour of having the same fantastic team making a wax figure of myself. It's truly amazing and I can't praise their hard work enough in creating such a brilliant life-like me." The wax model cost £150,000, and the entire castle experience was part of a £3 million investment by the Merlin Entertainment Group to promote the show. The attraction closed in 2014 and is now
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#17327933841121224-529: A light-touch regulator, the ITC ; companies became able to purchase other ITV regional companies and franchises were now being awarded based upon a highest-bidder auction, with few safeguards in place. This heavily criticised part of the review saw four operators replaced, and the operators facing different annual payments to the Treasury : Central Independent Television, for example, paid only £2,000—despite holding
1326-451: A lucrative and large region—because it was unopposed, while Yorkshire Television paid £37.7 million for a region of the same size and status, owing to heavy competition. Following the 1993 changes, ITV as a network began to consolidate with several companies doing so to save money by ceasing the duplication of services present when they were all separate companies. By 2004, the ITV network
1428-685: A monthly political programme, most non-news regional programming in the English regions was dropped by ITV plc in 2009, although it continues in Wales and the Channel Islands, as well as on STV and UTV and ITV Border in Scotland from 2014 to cover mainly Scottish politics whilst ITV Border in England broadcast network programming . On 14 January 2013, ITV plc regional news programmes titles were discontinued in favour of more generic branding under
1530-456: A path of evil, Merlin and Arthur must join forces with friends, old and new, to protect their home and secure their destinies. The programme was conceived by Julian Murphy and Johnny Capps. The BBC had been keen on showing a drama based on the character of Merlin for some time. A year before the Shine series was initiated, writer and producer Chris Chibnall had been developing a project aimed at
1632-485: A public service broadcaster, the ITV network is obliged to broadcast programming of public importance, including news, current affairs, children's and religious programming as well as party election broadcasts on behalf of the major political parties and political events, such as the Budget. The network also needs to produce accessible output containing subtitles, signing and audio description. In exchange for this programming,
1734-489: A segment for broadcast during the day in the 1960s, under the banner Independent Television for Schools and Colleges and from 1987 were broadcast on Channel 4 in the ITV Schools on Channel 4 segment. In 1993, this segment became Channel 4 Schools and later in 2000 4Learning . These strands of programming consisted of schools programming from all the ITV companies or from independent sources. The schools strand itself
1836-462: A sign language service within the broadcast as part of its quota and licence requirements. ITV's strong daytime line-up helped by programmes such as This Morning , Loose Women , Dickinson's Real Deal and game shows Tipping Point and The Chase are very popular, achieving the highest audience share during the daytime slot. In recent years the network has tried to use formats that ITV Studios own outright (whether they have originated in
1938-619: A single season, though again Chibnall claimed he had chosen not to be involved in the second series in any case, due to other writing priorities. In December 2013, Chibnall wrote a two-part dramatisation The Great Train Robbery , which tells the story of the Great Train Robbery on 8 August 1963. Coincidentally, the first part was shown on the same day that train robber Ronnie Biggs died. In 2013, Chibnall created and wrote
2040-405: Is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network. It is branded as ITV1 in most of the UK except for central and northern Scotland, where it is branded as STV . It was launched in 1955 as Independent Television to provide competition, eliminating what had been the monopoly of BBC Television (established in 1936). ITV is the oldest commercial network in the UK. Since the passing of
2142-519: Is available in the United Kingdom, and was released in Australia on 4 August 2011. Accompanying box sets are featurettes, video diaries, and commentaries. Behind the Magic, a two-part overview of making Merlin is included with the UK series one box set, while the documentary series, Secrets and Magic, is included with series two. In Australia "The Complete Collection" boxset (23-Discs, Seasons 1–5)
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#17327933841122244-425: Is not owned or operated by one company, but by a number of licensees, which provide regional services while also broadcasting programmes across the network. Since 2016, the fifteen licences are held by two companies, with the majority held by ITV Broadcasting Limited, part of ITV plc. The network is regulated by the media regulator Ofcom who is responsible for awarding the broadcast licences. The last major review of
2346-453: Is now defunct, with no particular branding segment used. ITV was originally very reliant on broadcasting American series, with westerns such as Gunsmoke and Rawhide in particular being considerable successes for the network during its earlier years. Action drama The Fugitive and sci-fi anthology The Twilight Zone were also broadcast by various regions in the early 1960s, with Batman and I Dream of Jeannie shown later on in
2448-567: The ITV News title with the region listed as the subheading. However some "heritage" brand names were retained including Calendar , Granada Reports and Lookaround . On 28 June 2014, ITV News Cymru Wales returned to its historic name of Wales at Six . The network broadcasts children's programming under the CITV (Children's ITV) strand. Children's programming was originally provided during weekday afternoons and weekend mornings, however following
2550-492: The BBC , it was broadcast for five series on BBC One between 20 September 2008 and 24 December 2012. The programme starred Colin Morgan , Bradley James , Katie McGrath , Angel Coulby , Richard Wilson , Anthony Head , and John Hurt . The programme is a reimagining of the legend, in which young warlock Merlin is sent to the kingdom of Camelot by his mother because of his "special gift". After saving Prince Arthur's life in
2652-500: The Broadcasting Act 1990 , it has been legally known as Channel 3 to distinguish it from the other analogue channels at the time: BBC1 , BBC2 and Channel 4 . ITV was for four decades a network of separate companies that provided regional television services and also shared programmes among themselves to be shown on the entire network. Each franchise was originally owned by a different company. After several mergers,
2754-557: The Château de Pierrefonds ). Two Kent locations were also used: The Barons Hall and Garden Tower at Penshurst Place , and Chislehurst Caves for the first series. The series was produced by Shine in association with BBC Wales, whose Head of Drama Julie Gardner was executive producer for the BBC. Doctor Who 's chief writer Russell T Davies had been an important influence on the tone and style of Merlin . CGI special effects for
2856-583: The ITV News brand. ITN has long been respected in the news industry as a source of reliable information and news, and as a result the service has won many awards for their programmes, the latest being in May 2011 when News at Ten was named best news programme by the Royal Television Society and BAFTA . The ITV National Weather forecast was first broadcast in 1989, using data supplied by
2958-833: The Independent Television Authority (ITA, then IBA after the Sound Broadcasting Act) to heavily regulate the industry and to award franchises. The first six franchises were awarded in 1954 for London, the Midlands and the North of England, with separate franchises for Weekdays and Weekends. The first ITV service to launch was London's Associated-Rediffusion on 22 September 1955, with the Midlands and North services launching in February 1956 and May 1956 respectively. Following these launches,
3060-459: The Met Office , and was presented by a number of weather forecasters. The forecasts are sponsored with the sponsor's message appearing before and after the forecast. The forecasts are made immediately after the main national news bulletins. Prior to the creation of the national forecast, each regional company provided its own regional forecast. The regional forecasts today are incorporated into
3162-462: The Unwind slot, but this was eventually phased out and replaced with the aforementioned news and information service. This overnight programme service is very different to what used to be shown on the network in the years after 24-hour broadcasting was introduced - this included new entertainment, imports, sports and other information programmes, and, in some regions, a job finder service, however due to
Chris Chibnall - Misplaced Pages Continue
3264-906: The Unwind with ITV sequences to fill small pieces of time before this. Teleshopping on ITVBe starts at 01:00 and continues until 07:00. There are some occasions when other coverage means this cycle of programmes get misplaced, for example a live event overnight, such as the Super Bowl or the Oscars , both of which ITV started airing in 2024, or, over Christmas, failing to sell Teleshopping slots, meaning more repeats, films and long Unwind sequences are used as filler instead. Overnight, STV broadcasts an overnight rolling news and information service, mixing reports from STV News and other information-based services, instead of ITV's shopping slot and Unwind . Due to STV opt-outs, this service can start later than or earlier than ITV's teleshopping. STV originally simulcast
3366-775: The experimental theatre company Complicité (where he met his wife Madeline), before leaving to become a full-time writer. Chibnall's first short play was produced as part of Contact Theatre's Young Playwright's Festival in 1988, and was directed by Lawrence Till. While studying at college, he wrote two plays, Victims and Now We Are Free , which were performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and directed by Edward Lewis. In 1998, he became Writer in Residence with GRiP Theatre Company, writing three full-length plays, including Best Daze and Gaffer! and several short plays. Chibnall's successor as Writer in Residence
3468-542: The 2007 TV Quick Awards and "Best Drama Series" at the BAFTA Cymru 2007 awards. The series has also been nominated for both Hugo and Saturn awards. In the US, the programme has been broadcast on BBC America and HDNet, to critical acclaim. Chibnall wrote eight episodes during the first two series, including both series' finales, and the premiere episode of series two. He worked closely with Russell T Davies across all aspects of
3570-667: The 75% limit as possible. The group cut the number of regional news programmes offered from 17 in 2007 to 9 by 2009, resulting several regions being merged to form one programme, including the Border and Tyne Tees regions, the Westcountry and West regions and the removal of sub regional programming, with some regions only represented by pre-recorded segments. Sub-regions were restored in 2013. STV Group plc owns two franchises, covering central and northern Scotland, through subsidiary companies STV Central and STV North, broadcasting
3672-438: The BBC broadcast a special in which Morgan and James took a road trip through Wales looking for traces of sites related to Arthurian legend. James said in an interview that while the road trip was fun, it was geographically limited due to being funded by BBC Wales , even though many high profile sites related to Arthurian legend are outside Wales. In April 2008, United States broadcasting rights were purchased by NBC, where it
3774-538: The Channel 3 franchises was in 1991, with all operators' licences having been renewed between 1999 and 2002 and again from 2014 without a further contest. While this has been the longest period that the ITV network has gone without a major review of its licence holders, Ofcom announced (following consultation) that it would split the Wales and West licence from 1 January 2014, creating a national licence for Wales and joining
3876-592: The Doctor's origins in the episode " The Timeless Children ". Some have further accused Chibnall's run of being too politically correct or " woke "; conversely, others have argued it promotes conservatism through its perceived messaging and portrayal of minorities . In the 1990s, Chibnall met Madeline Joinson, a producer for the company Out of Joint. They were married in 2002. They have two sons: Cal (born 2003) and Aidan (born 2006). Creator, 24 episodes: ITV (TV network) ITV , legally known as Channel 3 ,
3978-499: The ITA awarded more franchises until the whole country was covered by fourteen regional stations, all launched by 1962. The network has been modified several times through franchise reviews that have taken place in 1963, 1967, 1974, 1980 and 1991, during which broadcast regions have changed and service operators have been replaced. Only one service operator has ever been declared bankrupt, WWN in 1963, with all other operators leaving
4080-760: The ITV network is available on all platforms free to air and can be found at the top of the EPG of all providers. Since the launch of the platform in 1998, all of the ITV licensees have received gifted capacity on the digital terrestrial television platform. At present, the companies are able to broadcast additional channels and all choose to broadcast the ITV plc owned ITV2 , ITV3 , ITV4 and ITVBe in their region. UTV and STV (formerly Scottish Television and Grampian Television ) previously broadcast their own services – UTV2 in Northern Ireland and S2 in central and northern Scotland – until 2002, when they adopted
4182-538: The ITV network's history goes back to 1955, many regional franchisees changed over the years. Some of the most important names in the network's past – notably Thames , ABC and ATV – have no connection with the modern network. The origins of ITV lie in the passing of the Television Act 1954 , designed to break the monopoly on television held by the BBC Television Service . The act created
Chris Chibnall - Misplaced Pages Continue
4284-692: The ITV plc channels. Despite this, STV was given a broadcasting licence for what would become the STV2 channel in 2013, however this was short-lived and the channel closed in 2018. The broadcasters all make use of the Digital 3&4 multiplex, shared with Channel 4 . CITV launched in March 2006 (closed September 2023). ITV Encore launched in June 2014 (closed May 2018) and ITVBe launched in October 2014. ITV Box Office launched in February 2017 (closed January 2020). On 13 September 2022, ITV confirmed that during
4386-545: The UK with their Lifted Entertainment company or have come from production companies they own abroad), though some popular programme formats like The Masked Singer have still been acquired from other companies abroad. Currently ITV are behind the formats for Dancing on Ice , The Voice UK (the format originally coming from their Dutch production company) and I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! , while forthcoming music game show Walk The Line has been co-developed by Simon Cowell's Syco Entertainment and ITV. Since
4488-627: The US series. ITV commissioned a second run of thirteen episodes, but having set up the series Chibnall made the decision to leave the programme, to focus on other writing projects. Chibnall also show-ran Camelot , an adult retelling of the Arthurian legend for the Starz network. It went to air early in April 2011 and was filmed in Ardmore Studios near Dublin . The show was cancelled after
4590-400: The breakfast service. All licences listed here were renewed until the end of 2024. Licences in England and Wales were held by the individual regional ITV plc owned companies prior to November 2008. The appointment to provide national news for Channel 3 is also subject to approval by Ofcom. This appointment has been held by ITN since the channel's inception, and has also been approved through
4692-399: The creation of ITV Network Limited (and given Channel Television is now owned by ITV plc), it has been replaced by an affiliation system. Approved by Ofcom, this results in ITV plc commissioning and funding the network schedule, with STV and UTV paying a fee to broadcast it. All licensees have the right to opt out of network programming (except for the national news bulletins), but, unlike
4794-456: The day of Monday 19 September, the day of the state funeral for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II , all programming schedules on ITV's digital channels will be scrapped, with the main ITV News coverage being shown live and uninterrupted on every channel. This was the first time ITV decided to do this, with the company keeping their digital channels' schedules mostly as advertised in the run up to
4896-560: The deaf community. Replacing the information-based ITV Nightscreen slot in 2021 was Unwind With ITV , programming produced in association with the Campaign Against Living Miserably . At around 4am each night this mindfulness programme shows calming shots of natural landscapes and relaxing animations for around an hour, with versions of the footage also seen on ITV2, ITV3 and ITV4. These three channels continue programming until around 02:30, sometimes using
4998-400: The decade. Due to the varying schedules of many ITV regions, acquired content was not broadcast by some franchises. By the 1970s, most ITV regions were airing the likes of Hawaii Five-O , Happy Days , and The Brady Bunch . 1972 also saw the beginning of ITV's daytime programmes at lunchtime, a slot that would become associated with the many Australian soap operas that were broadcast in
5100-436: The decision, as a recent schedule change had made The Bill central to their programming, and broadcast the programmes on ITV3 as well to ensure Scottish viewers could see the programmes. On 23 September ITV plc was reported to be in the process of suing STV for £20 million, as ITV felt dropping the shows constituted a breach of network agreements; STV subsequently counter-sued ITV plc for £35 million. The dispute
5202-411: The end of 2024. For over 60 years of ITV, its homegrown programmes have become among the best remembered as well as being extremely successful. Before the 1990s, nearly all of the content for the channel was produced by the fifteen franchise licensees: the regional companies. However, following legislation in the Broadcasting Act 1990 imposing a 25% quota for commissioning of independent productions,
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#17327933841125304-485: The end of their runs. A heavy emphasis on action, fantasy and science fiction series was also placed by ITV during this 1980s, with The A-Team , Buck Rogers in the 25th Century , and Airwolf being broadcast by the network, as well as the likes of Baywatch and SeaQuest DSV by the 1990s. ITV also picked up a glut of older-skewing CBS dramas through that period, including Murder, She Wrote and Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman . In February 1989, in tandem with
5406-471: The ending of productions such as World in Action ( Granada Television ), This Week ( Rediffusion London / Thames Television ), First Tuesday ( Yorkshire Television ), Network First , Survival ( Anglia Television ), and Weekend World ( LWT ) and their replacement with populist shows such as Tonight . News at Ten was also axed in 1999, although it was reinstated in 2001. In December 2009,
5508-718: The fields of sports coverage and drama productions, and it continues to schedule national news in primetime. Breakfast Television programmes have been broadcast on ITV at breakfast since 1 February 1983. It was initially run by an independent contractor - TV-am , and later GMTV - until GMTV Limited became a wholly owned subsidiary of ITV plc in November 2009. Historically, ITV aired breakfast programmes from 6am until 9.25am but ITV extended this to 10am on weekdays on 6 January 2020. and now broadcasts two breakfast programmes on weekdays - Good Morning Britain and Lorraine . Good Morning Britain keeps viewers up to date with all
5610-668: The fifteen regional franchises are now held by two companies: ITV plc , which runs the ITV1 channel and the UTV channel – now branded as ITV1, and STV Group , which runs the STV channel . The ITV network is a separate entity from ITV plc, the company that resulted from the merger of Granada plc and Carlton Communications in 2004. ITV plc holds the Channel 3 broadcasting licences for every region except for central and northern Scotland, which are held by STV Group. Today, ITV plc simply commissions
5712-497: The final edition of ITV's long-running arts programme, The South Bank Show was broadcast. ITV's primetime schedules are dominated by its soap operas, such as the flagship Coronation Street and Emmerdale . At the start of the 21st century, ITV faced criticism for including a large amount of "reality TV" programmes in the schedule, such as Celebrity Fit Club , Celebrity Wrestling and Celebrity Love Island . In its defence, ITV does continue to show its major strengths in
5814-495: The final moments of Moffat's last episode " Twice Upon a Time ", so as to allow him to write Whittaker's first lines on the show. This previously happened in the 2010 special " The End of Time ", when Moffat took over for Russell T. Davies in the final moments of the episode, writing Matt Smith 's first words as the Eleventh Doctor . On 29 July 2021, the BBC announced that Chibnall would be stepping down from his role as
5916-593: The finale. After a successful first series, a second was announced at the end of the first series, with location filming finishing in October 2014. The second series aired in 2015 and a third and final series aired in 2017. Chibnall is a long-time fan of Doctor Who , and appeared on the BBC discussion programme Open Air in 1986 as a member of the Liverpool local group of the Doctor Who Appreciation Society , criticising The Trial of
6018-487: The first episode, he becomes Arthur's manservant. Merlin soon learns that the reason for his gift is to protect Arthur, but Merlin must hide his powers because magic was banned in Camelot by Arthur's father, King Uther Pendragon , and those caught practising it are executed. Over the years and after several adventures together, Merlin and Arthur become trusted friends and companions, with the former doing his best to influence
6120-504: The funeral (with a few amendments for cancelled sporting events on ITV4) and all royal coverage being on their main channel. ITV plc owns thirteen of the fifteen franchises and broadcasts to England, Wales, southern Scotland, the Isle of Man, the Channel Islands and Northern Ireland through its subsidiary company ITV Broadcasting Limited. The company also owns the breakfast television licence , which as of January 2020, broadcasts across
6222-597: The king, Uther Pendragon ( Anthony Head ), outlawed magic twenty years earlier in an event known as the Great Purge and imprisoned the last dragon, Kilgharrah (voice of John Hurt ), in the caves beneath the castle. After hearing a mysterious voice inside his head, Merlin makes his way to the cavern beneath the keep to find that he was hearing the dragon's voice. The Great Dragon tells Merlin that he has an important destiny: to protect Uther's only son, Prince Arthur ( Bradley James ), who will return magic to Camelot and unite
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#17327933841126324-452: The land of Albion . When Merlin meets Arthur, Merlin considers him to be an arrogant bully, and Arthur, likewise, is less than impressed with Merlin. After saving the prince's life, Merlin is appointed as his personal manservant. The two experience many adventures, over the course of which they come to respect and trust one another. But when Uther's actions eventually cause his ward, Morgana ( Katie McGrath ), to turn against Camelot and pursue
6426-472: The latest news, sports, features and weather, whilst Lorraine predominantly focuses on celebrity interviews, recipes, fashion and showbiz. Until 27th August 2023, the service would show a simulcast of the CITV channel, but since that service has closen has shown a mix of repeated programming whilst the CITV service that still exist broadcasts at breakfast time on ITV2 (which has the CITV block), ITV3, ITV4 and ITVBe from 7am show other repeats some of which provide
6528-439: The latter into becoming the king he is destined to be. Merlin was nominated for several awards, winning the 2011 British Academy Television Award for best visual effects. Broadcasting rights were sold to over 180 countries. Merlin ( Colin Morgan ) is a young, powerful warlock who arrives in the kingdom of Camelot after his mother arranges for him to stay with the court physician, Gaius ( Richard Wilson ). He discovers that
6630-516: The launch of the CITV channel in 2006, all children's programming, with the exception of the weekend ITV Breakfast slot, were relocated from the ITV line-up to the CITV channel in 2007, a move which was challenged by Ofcom in April 2007. In 2023, ITV announced that CITV would cease broadcasting as a linear channel, and would be replaced by ITVX Kids , a streaming media service which launched in July 2023. The CITV channel closed on 1 September 2023, with
6732-444: The legend. Two of the show's original scripts were published on a BBC website aimed at scriptwriters. A documentary series called Merlin: Secrets and Magic explains how the series was created. Apart from the initial 50-minute special, which was broadcast directly after the series two premiere, all new 50-minute episodes were shown after each Merlin episode repeat on Saturday, Sunday, Monday, or Friday evening on BBC Three. In 2009
6834-420: The main regional news bulletins, and in the summer months, includes a pollen count. Currently only new episodes of long-form news and current affairs programmes like Exposure , Peston and On Assignment are being scheduled after News at Ten , with the latter title only appearing on a monthly basis, typically on the last Tuesday of the month. The channel broadcasts a partnership teleshopping service for
6936-448: The network as a result of a franchise review. Separate weekend franchises were removed in 1968 (with the exception of London) and over the years more services were added; these included a national breakfast franchise from 1983 onward—operating between 6:00 am and 9:25 am—and a teletext service. The Broadcasting Act 1990 changed the nature of ITV; the then regulator the IBA was replaced with
7038-527: The network between 6:00 and 10:00am each morning using the Good Morning Britain (previously Daybreak ) and Lorraine names. The company broadcasts a centralised service under the ITV1 brand. In Northern Ireland, ITV used the UTV brand name as the name of the channel until April 2020. The group also owns ITV Studios , the production arm of the company and formed from an amalgamation of all
7140-526: The network launching its national weather forecast, and as part of a new early evening lineup which involved the shortening of Children's ITV, Australian soap Home and Away was acquired by ITV, particularly to compete with the success of rival Australian soap opera Neighbours on BBC One. ITV also broadcast Beverly Hills, 90210 beginning in early 1991, in the same Saturday teatime slot that Baywatch had occupied, although some episodes were broadcast in later time slots. It moved to Sky One beginning with
7242-511: The network schedule centrally; programmes are made by its own subsidiary ITV Studios and independent production companies. Regional programming remains in news and some current affairs series. In Northern Ireland, ITV plc used the brand name UTV as the name of the channel, until the ITV channel was rebranded as ITV1; it is still, however, used for local programming shown there. This was the name used by former owner UTV Media (now known as News Broadcasting ). ITV plc bought UTV in 2016. Although
7344-476: The network started, Independent Television News Limited (ITN) has held the contract to produce news for the ITV network, with 30-minute national news bulletins currently broadcast at 1:30 pm , and 10:00 pm, and an hour-long bulletin at 6.30pm. These bulletins were broadcast under the ITN brand from 1955 until 1999, when a new network identity reinforced the ITV brand, resulting in the new bulletins being broadcast under
7446-531: The newly expanded schedule, including The Sullivans and The Young Doctors . By the 1980s, more were added to the schedule, such as Sons and Daughters and A Country Practice . In primetime by the 1980s, ITV was broadcasting the likes of Hill Street Blues (which ITV began showing just one week after its debut on NBC in the United States) and L.A. Law . It was also early in the decade when Australian evening soap opera Prisoner: Cell Block H
7548-408: The newly separated West region to Westcountry Television , to form a new licence for the enlarged South West of England region. All companies holding a licence were part of the non-profit body ITV Network Limited, which commissioned and scheduled network programming, with compliance previously handled by ITV plc and Channel Television . However, due to amalgamation of several of these companies since
7650-559: The next Doctor would be a woman, he stated in February 2017 "Nothing is ruled out but I don't want the casting to be a gimmick and that's all I can say”. After Jodie Whittaker was announced as the Thirteenth Doctor in July 2017, Chibnall said, "I always knew I wanted the Thirteenth Doctor to be a woman and we’re thrilled to have secured our number one choice." As with the last change of showrunners, Chibnall wrote
7752-517: The number of programmes from independent production companies not connected to the traditional ITV network, has increased rapidly. Notable examples include Talkback Thames (one half of which, Thames Television , was itself a former ITV franchisee), producers of The Bill and co-producers of The X Factor , and 2waytraffic , producers of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? . From the late 1990s, ITV's long-standing commitment to strong current affairs and documentary programming began to diminish with
7854-613: The online/red button exclusive Pond Life . He also penned another short, P.S. , but it was never filmed, and was eventually presented online in storyboard format. In January 2016, the BBC announced that Chibnall would replace Steven Moffat as executive producer of Doctor Who and would be the head writer and executive producer, starting with the eleventh series of the revived era. Matt Strevens joined Chibnall as co-executive producer, after having also been an executive producer on An Adventure in Space and Time . When discussing whether
7956-454: The previous system, will receive no fee refund for doing so. Therefore many do not opt out due to pressures from the parent company or because of limited resources. Prior to the affiliate system being introduced, STV would frequently (and sometimes controversially) opt out of several popular network programmes – such as the original run of the first series of Downton Abbey – citing the need to provide more Scottish content to its viewers. As
8058-512: The production departments of the regional licences they own. The company produces a large proportion of ITV's networked programming (around 47%, but previously as high as 66% according to some reports ), with the rest coming primarily from independent suppliers (under the Broadcasting Act 1990, at least 25% of ITV's total output must be from independent companies). ITV plc hopes to increase the amount of in-house programming to as close to
8160-419: The project, although it later emerged, without Chibnall's involvement, as Merlin (2008–2012). In 2007, Dick Wolf and Kudos Film and Television selected Chibnall to become the show runner on ITV1 's Law & Order: UK , a police procedural/legal drama based on the original US series . Chibnall was the lead writer and executive producer, writing six of the first thirteen episodes based on scripts from
8262-725: The same period. In March 2011, this was revised, and the fourth series was extended to the standard 13 episodes. The fourth series was broadcast in the United States on the Syfy Channel "in early 2012." In UK, the fourth series premiered on 1 October 2011. Capps and Murphy confirmed on 24 July that BBC had commissioned a fifth series. Filming for the fifth series began March 2012 in Pierrefonds, France and near Cardiff , Wales. 13 episodes were ordered. Series 5 started broadcasting on 6 October 2012. On 26 November 2012, it
8364-413: The series were provided by The Mill . The Old English for spells was written by university scholar and medievalist Dr. Mark Faulkner, and later by the script editing team. An initial series of 13 episodes, Merlin began broadcasting in the UK on 20 September 2008. A trailer was prepared in advance for television, cinemas, and online. US broadcaster NBC began airing Merlin on 21 June 2009 but after
8466-604: The show's creators to write for both series of the double International Emmy-award-winning BBC One police drama Life on Mars (2006–07). He was part of the production team who accepted the 2007 BAFTA Audience Award onstage at the London Palladium . During 2005, Chibnall was in charge of developing a proposed fantasy series involving the mythical magician Merlin for BBC One's early Saturday evening family drama slot. Despite several scripts being written, BBC Head of Drama Jane Tranter eventually decided not to green-light
8568-492: The show's production. While working on Torchwood , Chibnall also wrote the 2007 episode " 42 " for the third series of Doctor Who . He returned for the 2010 series, penning the two-part story " The Hungry Earth " / " Cold Blood ", which reintroduced the Silurians to the series. Chibnall also wrote the second and fourth episodes for the seventh series in 2012, " Dinosaurs on a Spaceship " and " The Power of Three ", as well as
8670-402: The showrunner of Doctor Who , and Whittaker will be leaving her role as the Thirteenth Doctor. On 24 September 2021, the BBC announced that Chibnall would be succeeded by Davies, who would be returning as the showrunner of Doctor Who . Chibnall's run as showrunner has been divisive among fans of Doctor Who , receiving criticism for the scripts, characterization , and the perceived retcon of
8772-643: The small audience this was phased out and replaced by more relaxed and niche programming. Before 24-hour broadcasts, ITV's franchises simply closed down and restarted the following morning with ITV Morning News , followed by breakfast TV. The regional ITV companies are required to provide local news as part of their franchise agreement together with local weather forecasts, with the main local bulletin at 6pm and regional bulletins located after each national news programme. In addition to this, traditionally ITV companies would provide other regional programming based on current affairs, entertainment or drama. However, apart from
8874-490: The soundtrack from the third and fourth series along with that from the start of the fifth series. A series of books was published including novelizations of episodes from Seasons 1,2 and 3. UK publisher Attic Brand Media launched an official magazine for the show in September 2011 featuring articles, puzzles and a comic strip written by Damian Kelleher and drawn by Lee Carey. The monthly magazine cost £3.20 per issue and
8976-623: The third season. ITV reshuffled its daytime schedules in the Autumn of 1993, and just a few months prior, Central began broadcasting the New Zealand soap opera Shortland Street . The revamp saw more ITV companies pick it up, with Scottish Television the only region to reject the series outright. Central also broadcast the Australian soap opera Echo Point around the same time, although no other franchises picked it up. ITV also aired
9078-576: The year prior. It saw nowhere near the same levels of success, and was dropped by the network after just three episodes. It later resurfaced in late night before moving to BBC One in 2000. Merlin (TV series) Merlin (also known as The Adventures of Merlin ) is a British fantasy - adventure drama television programme, loosely based on the Arthurian legends regarding the close relations of Merlin and King Arthur . Created by Julian Jones, Jake Michie, Johnny Capps and Julian Murphy for
9180-524: Was Matthew Broughton. Gaffer! was revived at Southwark Playhouse in 2004. Chibnall took part in an attachment at the Royal National Theatre Studio in 1999, followed by a year-long attachment to Soho Theatre in 2000, which resulted in his play Kiss Me Like You Mean It , produced at Soho Theatre and directed by Abigail Morris . Its cast included Catherine McCormack , Jason Hughes , Marlene Sidaway and Harry Towb . The play
9282-458: Was a considerable success for ITV's standards, and it became the highest rated new American series of that year. Despite this success, ITV moved the show for its second season, no longer networking the series and moving to late night slots. ITV tried again at broadcasting an American drama series in September 1997, with the ABC legal drama The Practice , which ran in the same slot that Savannah had
9384-675: Was also the head writer for the first two series of the spinoff Torchwood (2006-08). Chibnall was brought up in Formby , Sefton , Merseyside . He studied drama at St Mary's University, Twickenham , subsequently gaining an MA in Theatre and Film from the University of Sheffield . His early career included work as a football archivist and floor manager for Sky Sports , before leaving to work as an administrator for various theatre companies. From 1996 to 1999 he worked as administrator with
9486-425: Was announced that series 5 of Merlin would be the last, with a two-part special concluding the series over Christmas. In a later interview, the co-creators said that while there had not been serious consideration of a sixth series, there had been "advanced talks" about a trilogy of Merlin movies set within the show's original timeline that did not end up being realized, but that they remained creatively interested in
9588-422: Was approached, together with writer Nigel McCrery, to develop the format for a drama series which became Born and Bred . With a cast including Bolam and Michael French , Born and Bred ran on BBC One for four years from 2002 to 2005. Chibnall served as head writer and consultant producer (later executive producer), writing seventeen of its thirty-six hour-long episodes. Chibnall was the only writer other than
9690-438: Was bought by ITV, and was broadcast after News at Ten . By 1982, Channel 4 had launched, and despite originally being related to ITV, it competed against its parent network to screen popular American programmes such as St. Elsewhere and Cheers , although the latter did receive a single ITV broadcast as part of a night showcasing Channel 4 programmes. Both Hill Street Blues and L.A. Law had moved from ITV to Channel 4 by
9792-552: Was distributed in UK newsagents. A Merlin attraction was created at Warwick Castle entitled Merlin : The Dragon Tower, which featured a walkthrough, a projection of Kilgharrah the dragon, Merlin from the BBC TV Series Merlin , or at least a true-to-life wax model -which was created with over 300 measurements—and a catalogue of reference shots of Colin Morgan . Upon seeing his wax work , Morgan said, "Little did I think that when I visited Madame Tussauds as
9894-420: Was ended in 2011 with STV agreeing to pay ITV plc £18 million. The signing of the new affiliation deal has resulted in STV paying a flat fee for all networked programming, and so to drop any programmes is unlikely due to the large costs involved. There are fifteen regional licences, covering fourteen regions (there are separate weekday and weekend licences for the London region), and one national licence for
9996-548: Was later announced the series would air after WWE SmackDown beginning 7 January 2011 at 10 pm (9 pm Central ). The distributor, FremantleMedia Enterprises, also sold broadcast rights to CTV in Canada, Network Ten in Australia and Prime in New Zealand. It aired on Choice TV . The series was broadcast in 183 countries. In the UK, the show has reaired on Sky Mix and Sky Sci-Fi , in addition to being available on BBC iPlayer . The free streaming service Plex launched
10098-498: Was owned by five companies, of which two, Carlton and Granada had become major players by owning between them all the franchises in England, Wales, the Scottish borders and the Isle of Man. That same year, the two merged to form ITV plc with the only subsequent acquisitions being the takeover of Channel Television , the Channel Islands franchise, in 2011; and UTV, the franchise for Northern Ireland, in 2015. The ITV network
10200-544: Was released on 13 May 2015. A soundtrack for the first two series featuring music from selected episodes was released on the MovieScore Media record label. Merlin composer Robert Lane was nominated for Best Original Score for Television for the 10th annual Movie Music UK Awards (2008), the 8th edition GoldSpirit Awards (2008), and the 5th annual International Film Music Critics Association (IFMCA) Awards (2008). In early October 2012 MovieScore Media released
10302-576: Was shortlisted for the Meyer-Whitworth Award , and has subsequently been produced in various venues around the world, including a successful three-month run in Paris in 2004. In February 2024, Chibnall's new play, One Last Push , will premiere at Salisbury Playhouse . Chibnall's first produced script for television was the successful monologue Stormin' Norman , starring James Bolam , made by Carlton Television for ITV . In 2001 he
10404-406: Was shown on Sundays at 8 pm ( EST ), starting 21 June 2009. This made it the first British drama in over 30 years to be shown on US network television, as opposed to PBS or cable. The programme moved to Syfy, a cable channel also owned by NBC, for the second series, which premiered on 2 April 2010. Syfy aired the third series in early 2011, after the conclusion of the initial broadcast on BBC. It
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