C5 sends Boorman to Canada

The UK’s Channel 5 (C5) has commissioned a new adventure series with Long Way Round star Charley Boorman to air later this year.

Charley Boorman’s Extreme Frontiers will follow the writer and actor as he embarks on a 10,300 mile journey across Canada by motorcycle with producer and director Russ Malkin.

The 4×60′ series was shot during June and July and is being produced by Big Earth Productions that also made Long Way Down and Long Way Round with Boorman and movie star Ewan McGregor.

The new series will air on C5 during December.

Andrew O’Connell, head of factual, news and current affairs at C5, said recently that the channel’s budget for factual and specialist factual had been increased since the takeover by media mogul Richard Desmond and it was very much “open for business.”

“I arrived at Channel 5 two years ago and nobody told me quite what the situation was, and it was dire. We lost out on quite a few series that are now on other channels because we didn’t have the money,” said O’Connell at the Televisual Factual Festival in London last month.

“Now there is money available. And having an owner with deep pockets means if we want something and he likes it he will pay for it. We have a budget, but if we need more money then we can go and ask.”