UKTV backs back2back with Ultimate Movers
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Editor
| 21 May 2019

UK independent production company back2back Productions has received investment from UKTV to produce a new eight-part series for its Dave channel.

And as the Brighton-based independent staffs up to meet the growing demand for its slate of returning brands and franchises, former Channel 4 commissioner Stef Wagstaffe has also been appointed to the role of development executive.

The principle part of the deal will see back2back partnering with UKTV and Viasat World on Ultimate Movers, an exclusive, access-led series that unpacks the UK’s supersizing delivery business which, fuelled by internet shopping, is now topping £10 billion a year in turnover. The programme offers access to the UK’s busiest ports, warehouses, factories and delivery companies. Ports and warehouses serve as the starting point for every episode, which then focuses in on companies and employees that specialise in different areas of delivery. These include moving giant brewing silos, circus big tops, ice sculptures and steam trains requires specialist skills.

The series is slated for release later this year and will be executive produced by back2back founder David Notman-Watt with Luke Hales, Dave channel director, and Daniel Thomas for UKTV. Series producer is Chris Barham with the global rights held by DCD Rights.

The greenlight for Ultimate Movers coincides with the addition of award-winning development executive Stef Wagstaffe to back2back’s expanding team of creative talent. Starting her career in the UK as a self-shooting documentary-maker focusing on vulnerable youth, crime and homelessness, Wagstaffe then moved to the US to work as showrunner on multiple seasons of Wife Swap. While in the US, she also launched Undercover Boss on CBS and on her return to the UK, she was appointed commissioning editor at Channel 4, where she launched Great Canal Journeys and Married at First Sight.

Wagstaffe is the fourth creative executive to join back2back’s development team in the last six months, reflecting, said the company, its fast rate of expansion over the past year. “It’s a brilliant opportunity to be joining back2back at such an exciting moment in its history,” she said. “The company has the drive, the team and the infrastructure — and I’m here to generate projects to build on the excellent work already being done.”