Escape to the Chateau indies get C4 deal

Escape to the Chateau’s Angel and Dick Strawbridge

Commercially funded UK pubcaster Channel 4 has inked a two-year programming deal with indies Two Rivers Media and Chateau TV, the companies behind its factual series Escape to the Chateau.

The deal comprises two new eight-part series of Escape to the Chateau, a recommission of Escape to the Chateau: Make Do & Mend and a further series featuring Chateau hosts Dick and Angel Strawbridge which is currently in development.

Distributor All3Media International will be the international partner on each of the series.

Escape to the Chateau follows the Strawbridges as they renovate and redecorate Château de la Motte Husson in France.

Sean Doyle, deputy head of features and formats at C4, said: “Dick and Angel are hugely popular, as was seen by the reaction to Make Do & Mend and the record-breaking figures for Escape to the Chateau at the end of 2020. They are jewels in the C4 crown and it’s been an exhilarating ride helping them grow over the last two years.”

In related news, Channel 4 is launching a shortform companion show to new Russell T Davies drama It’s a Sin that will be available on the broadcaster’s social channels.

Premiering on C4 tomorrow night, five-parter It’s a Sin follows a group of 18-year-olds who move in together in 1981 and have their lives turned upside down by the AIDS crisis.

The series’ 15-minute companion show, It’s a Sin: After Hours, will be available immediately after the drama each week on C4’s YouTube, Facebook and IGTV channels, before launching on Snapchat four days later.

Hosted by Kemah Bob, it will feature a mix of cast members and special guests exploring issues raised by the drama through a modern lens, as well as discussing the drama’s characters and storylines, and the fashion and music of the era.