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14 unusual facts about Channel 4


Anthony Powell Society

The Society emerged from the Anthony Powell Resources website begun in 1994 by Dr Keith Marshall and its associated email discussion list arising from the interest in Powell stimulated by the dramatization of A Dance to the Music of Time on UK Channel 4 TV in autumn 1997 and following his death.

Beat the Kids

The show is a parody of Ask The Family, though the name is a reference to Graeme Garden and Tim Brooke-Taylor's own Channel 4 game show, Beat the Nation.

Broadcasting Act

The Broadcasting Act 1980, that among other things allowed for the creation of Channel 4

Cajun Dance Party

West Heath Yard was also a music industry spoof which aired for a short while on Channel 4 in 1999, The album consisted of nine tracks, with singles from the album including "Colourful Life", "The Race", and "Amylase".

Edgar Wallace Mysteries

In Britain it was seen on ITV, Channel 4 and Bravo at various times from the late Sixties through to the Nineties.

Esprit d'amour

In 1990 the film was featured as part of Channel 4's Chinese Ghost Story season introduced by Johnathan Ross, being played alongside similar movies in the genre such as Encounters of the Spooky Kind, Zu Warriors from the Magic Mountain, Mr. Vampire, Spiritual Love and Rouge.

Eye Spy

Eye Spy (TV programme), a British TV programme broadcast in July 2013 on Channel 4, where a hidden camera captures people's reactions to pretend discrimination events happening around them.

Michael Abney-Hastings, 14th Earl of Loudoun

In 2004, Britain's Real Monarch, a documentary broadcast on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom repeated the claim that Abney-Hastings, as the senior descendant of George Plantagenet, 1st Duke of Clarence, is the rightful King of England.

Renee Williams

She was also the subject of a British television program called "Half Ton Mum" broadcast on Channel 4 after her death as part of the BodyShock series.

Slavery in Sudan

The issue was the subject of a Channel 4 dramatised documentary, I Am Slave in August 2010, in which none of these religious conflicts were highlighted.

The ITV Seven

ITV's midweek racing coverage had already been on Channel 4 since 22 March 1984; from 5 October 1985 the Saturday afternoon coverage also moved to the fourth channel, permanently becoming Channel 4 Racing, although it was reduced in scope considerably at the start of 1986, and would not become as extensive as it was in the ITV era until the late 1990s.

The Mousehole Cat

In 1994, Grasshopper Enterprises created an animated version of the tale as part of Channel 4's Beastly Xmas in 1995, narrated by Sian Phillips.

Whitefriars Shopping Centre

The "Big Dig" archaeological excavation was carried out on the site by the Canterbury Archaeological Trust in conjunction with Channel 4's Time Team from 2000–2003, unearthing mostly Roman and Mediaeval finds.

Who Killed Thomas Becket?

Who Killed Thomas Becket? is a 2004 Channel 4 documentary concerning the murder of Thomas Becket, who was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1162 to his death in 1170.


3 Minute Wonder

3 Minute Wonder is a short Channel 4 television slot that broadcasts first time directors' three-minute TV programmes in the middle of the channel's weekday primetime schedule.

Ade Adepitan

Adepitan was appointed as one of the main presenters on Channel 4 of the London 2012 Paralympic Games and co-presents That Paralympic Show with Rick Edwards.

Alex Stobbs

Stobbs has been featured in two documentaries, each broadcast on Channel 4 and produced by Walker George Films.

Ashley Slanina-Davies

Ashley Slanina-Davies (born 18 December 1989) is an English actress born in Standish, near Wigan, who is notable for playing the role of Amy Barnes on Channel 4's teen soap, Hollyoaks.

Bill Goldfinch

The programme was shown in 2000 Channel 4 in the UK as part of a 3-part (150 minute total) "Escape from Colditz" documentary.

Bryony Afferson

As a musician, she came to public attention playing guitarist Charlie in Totally Frank on Channel 4 which led to the band Frank releasing the Devil's Got Your Gold album.

Channel 4 Banned season

The Channel 4 Banned season was a series of television documentaries on the UK's Channel 4 in 2004-2005, examining the history of explicit and controversial material on British television, and its infiltration of the mainstream.

Ciaran Joyce

Other credits include All about us: The Beacons for Channel 4, Digital Vision's Oscar, and Prolific Films' Summer Scars playing 'Bingo'.

Dallol, Ethiopia

Dallol became more known in the West in 2004 when it was featured in the Channel 4/National Geographic documentary Going to Extremes.

Darren Bender

Darren Bender became known in the UK TV industry for launching several long-running new film-maker's initiatives (Coming Up & The Other Side) at broadcaster Channel 4.

David Harsent

His work in music theatre has involved collaborations with a number of composers (but most often with Sir Harrison Birtwistle, the opera Gawain being their most notable collaboration) and has been performed at the Royal Opera House, Carnegie Hall, the Southbank Centre, The Proms, the Wiener Kammeroper, and broadcast on BBC Two, Channel 4 and Trio (USA).

Do You Feel What I Feel?

The group once again performed the song on 25 November on The Graham Norton Show, and on their special for Channel 4's The Album Chart Show on 27 November.

Emmerdale plane crash

In the 5 January 1994 episode of Channel 4 soap Brookside, character Mick Johnson (Louis Emerick) was seen reading a newspaper with the front page headline "AIR DISASTER TOLL RISES - Village Mourns As Many Die", reflecting the events in Emmerdale.

Finn Brothers

This song was also used on the final session of the last day of the 2005 England vs. Australia Ashes cricket series on Channel 4 Television, at the end of the last day of cricket being shown on British terrestrial television.

Five Minutes to a Fortune

Five Minutes to a Fortune was a British game show, which aired on Channel 4 from 6 April 2013 to 5 May 2013 and was hosted by Davina McCall.

Gypsy Blood

Transmitted on 19 January 2012, Gypsy Blood launched 2012’s season of the True Stories documentary strand on Channel 4 and was the first True Stories to premiere on the main channel, rather than the digital channel More4.

Helen Geake

Dr Helen Geake (born Helen Louise Nerde) is one of the key members of Channel 4's popular and long-running archaeology series Time Team, presented by Tony Robinson, along with Mick Aston and Phil Harding.

Helen Ukpabio

In 2008, the TV news documentary Dispatches Saving Africa's Witch Children by UK broadcaster Channel 4 stated the views that she expresses have led to a massive upsurge in children stigmatised and abandoned by their families in West Africa, particularly in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria.

Heywood Community High School

Elliott Tittensor, an actor best known for his role of Carl Gallagher in the Channel 4 show Shameless, is a former student of Heywood Community High School.

Horseferry Road

Other notable institutions which are or have been located on Horseferry Road include Broadwood and Sons, the Gas Light and Coke Company, British Standards Institution, the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, the Burberry Group headquarters in Horseferry House, the National Probation Service and Channel 4.

Jago Cooper

Involved in popularising archaeology through television, he co-presented the 2009 Channel 4 documentary Man on Earth with Tony Robinson and Joy Singarayer.

John Fielding

The 2008 Channel 4 television series City of Vice is based on the crime investigation work of the Fielding brothers.

John Francome

He was a trainer for 18 months before becoming a TV presenter for Channel 4's horse racing broadcasts.

Lighter

In August 2011 Stephen Fry chose the lighter as the greatest gadget in his Channel 4 programme Stephen Fry's 100 Greatest Gadgets, one of the 100 Greatest strand, describing it as "fire with a flick of the fingers".

Lisa Maffia

Maffia has appeared/performed on a number of different television shows including Top of the Pops, Brit Awards, MOBO Awards, The Jonathan Ross Show, Never Mind the Buzzcocks, Celebrity Juice, CD:UK, Popworld and appeared in series three of The Games.

Matt Day

He has said that his favourite role of this period was the photographer Frank Hurley in the 2002 Channel 4 television film Shackleton, in which Kenneth Branagh played the title role.

Matt Tebbutt

Tebbutt also co-presents Channel 4's Drop Down Menu with Gizzi Erskine and Food Unwrapped alongside Kate Quilton and Jimmy Doherty.

Morrissey Fox

Development of the original 'Blonde' ale began in January 2008 and was documented in the Channel 4 programme Neil Morrissey's Risky Business.

Old Man of Stoer

In the Channel 4 television programme Hidden Talent, 45 year-old Maggie Reenan climbed the stack after 18 days of intensive training, after her natural aptitude for climbing was discovered.

Rob Beckett

In 2011, Beckett made a guest appearance as Mike in the Channel 4 TV series Fresh Meat.

Ruth Dudley Edwards

Her non-fiction books include An Atlas of Irish History, James Connolly, Victor Gollancz: A Biography (winner of the James Tait Black Memorial Prize), The Pursuit of Reason: The Economist 1843–1993, The Faithful Tribe: An Intimate Portrait of the Loyal Institutions (shortlisted for Channel 4/The House Politico's Book of the Year) and Newspapermen: Hugh Cudlipp, Cecil King and the glory days of Fleet Street.

Surrey Heath

Surrey Heath was voted the 6th best place to live in Channel 4's 2007 Location, Location, Location 'best and worst' survey.

Tears in rain soliloquy

In the Channel 4 documentary On the Edge of Blade Runner, Hauer, director Ridley Scott, and screenwriter David Peoples asserted that Hauer wrote the "Tears in Rain" speech.

The Book People

They used to host the online bookshops for Channel 4’s TV Book Club and CITV’s Bookaboo and currently host the Big Book Babble programme in conjunction with Scholastic.

The Camomile Lawn

The 1992 adaptation was independently produced by Glenn Wilhide and Sophie Belhetchet at ZED Ltd for Channel 4, and directed by Peter Hall.

The Chimes, Uxbridge

The Chimes was used to film scenes for the Channel 4 television comedy The Inbetweeners, offering itself as a shooting location on just three days' notice after another shopping centre withdrew.

The Last Leg

The Last Leg (known during its first series as The Last Leg with Adam Hills and its end of year special as The Last Leg of the Year) is a UK TV show that originally ran alongside the 2012 Summer Paralympics every night following the main coverage on Channel 4.

The Law of the Playground

The Law of the Playground is a British television series broadcast on Channel 4 produced by Zeppotron in which various British comedians and celebrities recollect the past times of childhood at school.

The Perfect Home

The Perfect Home is a television series of three 42 minute episodes commissioned for Channel 4 based on the book The Architecture of Happiness by Alain de Botton which first aired in 2006.

The Young Person's Guide to Becoming a Rock Star

The Young Person's Guide to Becoming a Rock Star is a British comedy series, which aired on Channel 4 in 1998.

There's No One Quite Like Grandma

More recently, the song was used within the one-off Channel 4 comedy by Peter Kay called Britain's Got the Pop Factor..., which had Sally Lindsay, who was in the original choir of the song, in a cameo role.

Tobie Puttock

The creation of the restaurant and training scheme formed the basis of a 2002 TV series on Channel 4, Jamie's Kitchen.

Vince Earl

In November 2007, Earl returned to the set of Brookside in West Derby, Liverpool for an interview with ITV Local News to celebrate 25 years since the show started on Channel 4.

Waheed Khan

He eventually directed and produced documentaries for the BBC and Channel 4 of a public service nature on a variety of subjects.

Willie Harcourt-Cooze

Relocating to a rented property in Devon, England, after several years of assembling suitable equipment, and the resumption of cocoa farming, he began production in 2007 in Uffculme, Devon, filmed by Channel 4.

Won't Go Home Without You

Robert Christgau gave a positive review on the album as well as the song, saying "The devilishly memorable "Won't Go Home Without You" combines confidence with affection rather than macho." Channel 4 called the song "the musical equivalent of a dog's fart at the dinner table" and gave it just one star out of a possible ten.