BBC takes Marigold celebs on tour

A Very Modern Grand Hotel looks behind the scenes at London’s Corinthia Hotel

UK broadcaster the BBC has ordered factual and unscripted shows for its channels BBC1 and BBC2, including a series featuring celebrities from the pubcaster’s factual entertainment programme The Real Marigold Hotel.

The Real Marigold On Tour (4×60′) is from UK prodco Twofour and will take celebs including Miriam Margolyes and Stanley Johnson to locations around the world to experience different ways to spend their retirement.

The show will air on BBC1 along with A Very Modern Grand Hotel (working title, 2×60′), from filmmaker Jane Treays and London-based indie Spun Gold, which goes behind the scenes at London’s Corinthia Hotel.

Elsewhere, BBC2 has ordered The Brigade (wt, 6×60′), a six-part series from Peter Fincham and Tim Hincks’ UK-based prodco Expectation that sees a team of talented but unknown cooks competing with well-known professionals.

Also on the channel’s slate is doc The Case of Sally Challen (wt, 1×60′), which explores the story of a woman who was convicted of killing her husband. Minnow Films in the UK produces with Rowan Deacon and Lizzie Kempton attached as director and producer.

BBC1 has also ordered Celebrity Painting Challenge from in-house production arm BBC Studios, with celebrities including cricketer Phil Tufnell among the competitors.

The four-part series, on air in 2019, will take part in a range of tasks, masterclasses and challenges designed to test their painting prowess with an expert panel judging the results.