Little England and The Corrie Years

24th June 2011

ITV1 commissions Little England (working title) and The Corrie Years from ITV Production outfit Shiver

ITV1 has commissioned new prime-time series Little England (working title) (12x30), featuring the lives of a British community living in France and The Corrie Years (3x30); both from ITV Studios’ Leeds based production arm Shiver.
 
Following the success of The Dales, Shiver has been commissioned to make another prime-time series featuring the lives of a community. Little England (working title) will focus on the lives of the British ex-pats living in Eymet in the South of France. The beautifully preserved medieval fortress town in the Dordogne is home to the highest proportion of British residents of anywhere in mainland Europe.
 
The programme will investigate the British comforts the ex-pats have brought to the French town, including tea shops, farmers, and a local cricket team. The series will also meet the characters who have settled in the area including the owners of the local corner shop, a couple who run a fish and chip van, and a butcher bringing British-style meat to the locals. Little England (working title) is due to air on ITV1 later in 2011, and will be produced by Simon Paintin, who was previously Executive Producer of The Dales.

Separately, ITV1 has also commissioned Shiver to produce The Corrie Years. Following last year’s Coronation Street: 50 Years, 50 Moments, which was watched by over 6 million viewers, Shiver will now explore some of the most significant storylines in Coronation Street’s 50 year history. The programme will include unseen footage of a sixties storyline that was so controversial it was not broadcast at the time.

The three-part series will explore the pioneering moments in the programme’s history including the first live episode, how the much loved soap has grabbed the headlines and impacted the nation’s press, and how the scriptwriters have consistently reflected changes in British society. The series is being produced by Kerry Allison and is due to air on ITV1 in the summer.

Both series were commissioned for ITV by Diana Howie, Factual Commissioning Editor, with Alison Sharman, Director of Factual and Daytime.

Diana said: “These series tap into the heart of British culture from two very different ends of the spectrum, reflecting the diversity and versatility of factual content on ITV1.   

Shiver’s Creative Director, Mark Robinson, said, “ We are very excited to be working on these new commissions, which highlight the diversity of programmes which are currently being made by Shiver in the North of England.”