Channel 4 is starting 2025 as it means to go on, announcing a slate of exciting new shows across drama, reality and entertainment, and comedy. After unveiling their shiny new slate, the stars came out to celebrate a stellar year ahead for the broadcaster, at The Standard in London King's Cross, many of whom found themselves on the dance floor once Annie Mac took to the decks.
So what to do Channel 4 have in store for us this year? Top of our watch list, is The Honesty Box, in which reality TV veteran Vicky Pattinson hosts a new nine-part dating experiment for E4, where a group of single people head to sunny 'Truetopia' where they are financially rewarded (£100,000 is up for grabs) for being honest about about their true feelings.
How does this work? With the help of AI-enhanced lie detector software with 88% accuracy, of course! And who better to help them on their quest for inner peace and authenticity than Married at First Sight Australia's Lucinda Light, who is the resident 'Sincerity Coach' on The Honest Box. 'Having undergone my own radical journey to find love, I deeply empathise with our brave cast of singles,' she said. 'I'm passionate about the importance of truth and authenticity in building strong relationships. My goal is to guide our divine daters in making meaningful connections.'
That's not the only new reality show to get excited about. In The Inheritance - from the team behind The Traitors - 12 strangers move into an English country estate in a wicked game to win The Deceased's money. It's a game of wit, willpower, persuasion and betrayal and it starts later this year... it sounds incredibly addictive to us.
On the theme of romance and connection, Channel 4 is also launching Virgin Island where a group of adults who have not had sex before come together to challenge their relationship with intimacy. It promises to be a humorous and ultimately human exploration of virginity at a time when there are more adult virgins than ever before.
In the scripted realm Channel 4 has announced an exciting new series with the award-winning and critically acclaimed creator of It's A Sin, Russell T Davies. Tip Toe is a five-part exploration of the most corrosive forces facing the LGBTQ+ community today, examining the danger as prejudice creeps back in two our lives via two unalike next door neighbours living in Manchester.
Coming soon is the four-part adaptation of Louise Kennedy's hit novel, Trespasses, starring Lola Petticrew, Tom Cullen and Gillian Anderson. Set in Belfast in 1975, it follows the love story of a young Catholic woman working behind the bar in her family pub and an older, married Protestant man who she happens to serve one evening.
The debut comedy Big Mood, starring our previous cover stars Lydia West and Nicola Coughlan, is also returning for season two this year, which is a relief given that Maggie and Eddie did not leave things on the best of terms at the end of season one.
Next year, we can expect to see an eight-part adaptation of Caroline O'Donoghue's beloved and best-selling novel, The Rachel Incident, landing on Channel 4 too. Caroline is writing the show herself in collaboration with Jen Statsky, the co-creator of the hit series, Hacks. The Rachel Incident is an aching story about friendship, unrequited love and Ireland in chaos, and a young woman desperately trying to manage all three.
It will be joined on the platform by Daisy Haggard's new thriller, Maya, which follows the story of mother and daughter as they are forced into witness protection to escape a dangerous threat. It will be produced by the award-winning Two Brothers Pictures behind the likes of Fleabag and The Tourist.
