ITV puts Catchphrase back into production

Catchphrase host Stephen Mulhern

ITV is putting its long-running gameshow Catchphrase back into production next month, its first entertainment format to go into the studio following the coronavirus lockdown.

Catchphrase will resume filming on July 6, with STV productions filming 10 episodes to air on the UK commercial broadcaster during the autumn.

Protocols implemented to ensure safety of contributors and crew include physical changes to the set, galleries and make-up rooms.

Crew will be divided into separate working ‘bubble’ groups and have staggered start times with changes to the catering service. Everyone on set will be required to observe social distancing rules and all contributors and crew will have their temperatures taken throughout the filming period.

The show is returning without its live studio audience.

Host Stephen Mulhern said: “We were always due to start filming now so it’s great that we are in a position that we can do so. It feels so good to be back in the studio and it’s taken a huge amount of work from the crew and all at STV Productions who make the show and ITV, who broadcast it, to get us back up and running safely. We can’t wait to start.”

Katie Rawcliffe, ITV’s head of entertainment commissioning, added: “Catchphrase is the first of ITV’s big entertainment shows to go back into the studio.

“All the teams have worked incredibly hard to get us back filming and the production team have protocols in place in line with government guidelines to make sure that we are doing this in as safe a way as possible for the crew, contributors and everyone involved.”