Chateau TV, Two Rivers in the flow for Channel 4 renewal
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Editor
| 21 January 2021
Off the back of a strategic collaboration with Chateau TV, Scottish indie Two Rivers has sealed a win with the independent production company set up by Dick and Angel Strawbridge for a major two-year programming deal from Channel 4 to supply new programming under the Chateau brand.
Chateau TV 21Jan2021
It is six years since the Strawbridges found Château de la Motte Husson - a 45-room, five-storey chateau. Dilapidated after years of neglect, they decided to bring it back to life. The story of their adventure, Escape to the Chateau, is one of Channel 4’s top rated shows, averaging about 2.5 million viewers weekly. It has sold to 42 territories, from Australia to Angola, Canada to China.

The commissioning deal comprises: two new eight-part series of Escape to the Chateau, the international hit series hosted by the Strawbridges; a recommission of Escape to the Chateau: Make Do and Mend; and a further series featuring Dick and Angel which is currently in development. all3media International will be the international partner on each of the series.

Two Rivers’ and Chateau TV’s first programming collaboration was Escape to the Chateau: Make Do and Mend (4 x 60’). In this primetime series for Channel 4, filmed by the Strawbridge family on location at the Chateau in France, the couple aim to solve the nation’s make-do and mend dilemmas.

The new announcement follows the seventh series of Escape to the Chateau which was its best-performing series, reaching 3.1 million, a 13.1% share. Escape to the Chateau: Make Do and Mend, which broadcast in summer 2020, was Channel 4’s most successful brand new series launch in its 20:00 slot.

“We are extremely proud to be making these series for Channel 4,” said Lizi Wootton, head of popular factual at Two Rivers. “Our strategic partnership with Chateau TV is important for us as a growing indie with ambitions to make programming which is both creatively strong and internationally successful. Working with Dick and Angel, some of the most popular talent on-screen today, is extremely exciting and am personally delighted to be building on our long-standing relationship. There is a huge opportunity to grow the success of the Chateau brand on-screen and we are thrilled to be playing such a key role in its programming future.”