BBC Children’s reveals slate of new commissions and acquisitions

High Hoops has been recommissioned for a third series

LONDON TV SCREENINGS: BBC Children’s in the UK has revealed a slate of new commissions and acquisitions for CBBC and CBeebies, including a third season recommission of live-action drama High Hoops.

Produced by CanCan Productions, created by lead writer Sinead Fagan and with a cast including Robert Webb (Peep Show), High Hoops follows a tall, “gaffe-prone” teenager attempting to turn her school’s hopeless basketball team into a winning team.

Season two is currently airing on CBBC and streaming on iPlayer. Season three will consist of 10×30’ episodes and will be shot across Yorkshire.

Also commissioned for CBBC is a reboot of Aussie mockumentary Little Lunch. Little Lunch: New Class comes from Gristmill for Australian pubcaster the ABC and the BBC. The show arrives a decade after the original series, which the BBC acquired last year, and follows six children in the school playground.

Commissioned for CBeebies is I Can Taste It, a 30×10’ fact-ent series set in a vibrant West Midlands market which invites children to explore food through sight, smell, sound, touch and taste. It is produced by Common Story TV.

Also commissioned for CBeebies is a spin-off to animated preschool series Yakka Dee! Produced by King Banana TV, Yakka Do! (60×5’) leads children through fun, educational activities devised to aid the development needed for school readiness.

Another spin-off, Hey Duggee’s Squirrel Club (Studio AKA and BBC Studios Kids & Family), has been recommissioned for a second 13×7’ season for CBeebies and iPlayer, and will be joined by a second season of live-action series Waffle’s After School Club.

Returning to CBeebies for third seasons are live-action series The Football Fantastics, produced by Strike, and animated series Musical Storyland, from the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra and Sustain Video.

Meanwhile, CBeebies has acquired Froglets, a 26×5’ series commissioned by Rai Kids in Italy and produced by Eaglet Pictures and Pesci Combattenti. The series follows the adventures of three wool frogs who secretly live in a human home.

CBeebies has also acquired Australian live-action series Knee High Spies, which centres on a teddy bear and his ragtag team of toy spies as they embark on missions to protect their humans from the wicked schemes of the family’s pet guinea pig. The series is produced by Werner Films for the ABC.

Also coming up on CBeebies is previously announced animated series Go Jetters Go!, a spin-off to Go Jetters.