ITV picks Black Eyed Peas with Lumley

Joanna Lumley will front 20 Years of the Black Eyed Peas

UK commercial broadcaster ITV has commissioned a one-off factual programme celebrating the success of Grammy-winning hip hop group The Black Eyed Peas.

One-hour special 20 Years of the Black Eyed Peas is being produced by ITV Studios and charts the meteoric rise of members will.i.am, apl de ap and Taboo over the past two decades.

The American group is known for hits such as Where Is The Love and the celebration of their work will be fronted by Absolutely Fabulous star Joanna Lumley.

Lumley has presented a number of ITV factual programmes recently, including travelogue Silk Road Adventure, and is apparently friends with the Peas.

She said: “I’m both a friend to and a big fan of The Black Eyed Peas. It’s very exciting to be part of this and I’m looking forward to it enormously.”

In more conventional news, ITV has also greenlit a pair of 10×60’ culinary series for its Sunday morning schedules, produced by Blue Marlin Television and the new TV arm of feature film producer and financer Goldfinch Studios.

Ainsley’s Caribbean Kitchen will see former Ready, Steady, Cook host Ainsley Harriott embark on an island-hopping journey to uncover the best-kept secrets and most loved classics of Caribbean cooking, visiting countries including Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago, Grenada, Antigua, Barbados and St Lucia.

Meanwhile, Parveen’s Indian Kitchen, presented by Bollywood events and catering entrepreneur Parveen Ashraf, will reveal a fresh take on the cuisine as she shares the secrets of authentic Indian cooking from homes and restaurants across the sub-continent.