Channel 4 in the UK orders landmark medical docuseries Cancer Detectives

Left-to-right: Caroline Dive, Richard Mair and Sarah Blagden

UK public broadcaster Channel 4 has greenlit brand-funded observational documentary series Cancer Detectives: Finding the Cures, which explores the pioneering research that could transform the future of cancer detection, treatment and prevention.

The 3×60’ series, produced by Banijay-owned Dragonfly North, is a collaboration with Cancer Research UK and meets patients undergoing life-saving treatments.

The series follows professor Sarah Blagden, who is developing a ground-breaking lung cancer prevention vaccine; neurosurgeon and scientist associate professor Richard Mair, who treats patients with hard-to-treat brain cancers; and professor Caroline Dive, who is working on blood tests to detect cancer before it shows up on a scan.

Jonah Weston, commissioning editor at C4, said: “It has been great to partner with Dragonfly and Cancer Research UK on this series and see these amazing scientists at work, as they make breakthroughs already benefitting patients in ways that would have been unthinkable only a few years ago.”