BBC orders fast-food, design contests

Rumpus Media’s The Misinvestigations of Romesh Ranganathan

UK pubcaster the BBC has commissioned factual entertainment series for BBC1, BBC2 and BBC3, including competitions featuring interior designers and fast-food takeaways.

BBC1 is adding two further seasons of Interior Design Masters, which initially ran on BBC2. Fronted by British comedian and chatshow host Alan Carr, the series sees 10 up-and-coming designers tackle a range of design challenges and compete to win a contract with a prestigious commercial client.

The BBC’s head of commissioning for popular factual and factual entertainment, Catherine Cotton, said the decision to move the 8×60’ series, which is produced by Banijay UK’s DSP, to BBC1 came after 4.1 million viewers tuned in to watch the season two final earlier this year.

BBC2 is lining up Britain’s Top Takeaways (working titles, 8×60’), a new eight-parter that sees some of the nation’s best-loved independent takeaways battling for supremacy in a fast-food showdown that crowns a different winner each week.

Hosted by BBC radio presenter Sara Cox, the series will follow the takeaway companies as they prepare and cook meals in a specially built kitchen before biking them to different households which must decide on a winner.

Britain’s Top Takeaways is being produced by Warner Bros International Television Production UK’s Ricochet. Exec producing are director of programmes Rob Butterfield and Sarah Thomson-Woolley.

Alan Carr fronts Interior Design Masters

Also for BBC2 is Master of Ceremonies (wt, 6×60’), a competition format in which a cast of fledgling wedding planners battle it out to prove they have what it takes to become the UK’s next wedding guru.

Each week the planners will be tasked with creating dream weddings for couples around the UK, many of whom had their plans left in tatters by lockdown.

The series is produced by BBC Studios Factual Entertainment Productions and exec produced by Adeline Ramage Rooney and Kelly Sparks.

The final series for BBC2 is The Misinvestigations of Romesh Ranganathan. A spin-off to travel series The Misadventures of Romesh Ranganathan, the 3×60’ series follows the comedian as he turns his skills to true crime and attempts to solve some of the most mysterious, high-profile deaths from around the world, including those of rock star Jimi Hendrix and rapper Tupac Shakur.

The series is produced by Rumpus Media and exec produced by founder Emily Hudd and Morgan Roberts.

Finally, joining BBC3 is Dubai Hustle, an 8×30’ series following a group of 20-something real estate brokers from across the UK as they try to earn the big bucks in the playground of the super rich.

Dubai Hustle is produced by ITV Studios’ MultiStory Media and exec produced by MultiStory North’s creative director Ceri Aston.