Throng

Jonathan Ross will host the 2009 British Comedy Awards which will be broadcast on ITV1 later this year.

Celebrating its 20th year, Britain’s best-loved comedy awards ceremony enjoys a renowned reputation for providing riotous and unpredictable viewing in the presence of an international array of the biggest names in entertainment, showcasing some of the most outrageous, successful and hilarious comedy moments of the year.

Jonathan says ‘I’m delighted – it’s the most prestigious awards show in the world. Obama may have a Nobel Prize. But he’s not even in the running for Best Entertainment personality. It’s that prestigious.’

Global superstar Whitney Houston is set to do her first UK TV performance in 12 years. She is set to perform on The X Factor on October 18th, the day before she releases her brand new album ‘I Look To You’. Whitney says:“I have always loved my UK fans and I’m thrilled to perform for them on X Factor.  I am also a fan of Simon Cowell's and look forward to meeting him. It should be a fun night.”

‘I Look To You’ entered at #1 in the US album charts with 305,000 sales.  The biggest  week one sale of her career and the biggest of any female artist this year.  Whitney’s second album “Whitney” was the first ever by a female artist to enter the US chart at #1 in 1987.  Her last #1 album “Bodyguard” spent 20 weeks at the top spot in 1993.

Edinburgh’s Storm Ideas have unveiled an official branded destination on their popular Twibbon site to reinforce The X Factor’s presence on social networking websites.

Working in association with ITV and FremantleMedia Enterprises, the destination launches to coincide with the live phases of the hit series this weekend. Building on a larger multi-platform strategy, this social media vehicle will reinforce the efforts to engage fans with their favourite entertainment brand. Additionally it’s the ideal complement to the official website (http://xfactor.itv.com/2009) which has just set new records achieving 1.7m page impressions last week.

ITV has recommissioned its new hit gameshow format The Cube for a second series. The programme, made by Objective Productions,  will be broadcast on the channel in 2010.

Since its debut in summer 2009, The Cube has proven a popular format with viewers attracting audience figures of up to 5.6 million viewers.  Hosted by Phillip Schofield, the show sees contestants take on apparently simple challenges under the spotlight in a large glass cube, thereby intensifying their pressure.

The challenges range from tasks of agility to seemingly straightforward trials such as bouncing a ball into a bin or stopping a clock at 10 seconds, all filmed in front of a studio audience.  The show is also known for its state of the art filming techniques which illustrate the intense pressure felt by the programme’s contestants.

A modern reworking of Andrea Newman’s taboo-busting 1970s psychological drama, A Bouquet of Barbed Wire has been commissioned by ITV.

Adapted by Guy Andrews (Lost In Austen, Prime Suspect), A Bouquet of Barbed Wire explores the consequences of a father’s obsessive love for his daughter and how secrets once buried in the past return to haunt their lives.  Trevor Eve will play Peter Manson, whose apparently successful life is turned upside down when his beloved teenage daughter Prue reveals she’s pregnant by her teacher, Gavin Sorenson.  The very heart of the family is threatened as Peter has an intuitive sense that Gavin’s on a personal quest for revenge.

ITV today confirmed the best performing new drama of 2009 so far – Whitechapel starring Rupert Penry-Jones, Phil Davis and Steve Pemberton – has been recommissioned for a second series.

Atmospheric and brooding, Whitechapel II will once more boldly draw on an iconic cult crime born out of the area.  After Jack the Ripper came the gangster brutality of the Krays, and in Whitechapel II the paranoia of this era and the faded glamour of the former East End overlords will characterise the drama. It will be as sharp, intense and as visually distinctive as Whitechapel I with the gangster culture the Krays instilled never far away.  Produced by Carnival Films, the new story will broadcast as three episodes.

Famous Four move in for new ITV1 series on life on Housing Estates

Four famous people will step into the shoes of families living on low incomes in recession-hit Britain for a new ITV 1 series.

The broadcaster has commissioned Brighter Pictures, an Endemol company, to produce the 3x60 series in which Mel B, Keith Allen, Trinny Woodall and Austin Healey move into households on housing estates in Leeds, and in some cases even replacing a member of the household.

Let battle commence!

The long-list nominations for the biggest-ever National Television Awards (NTA) see some classic clashes in a magnificent new setting and with a brand new host.

The awards, now in their 15th year and traditionally based at the Royal Albert Hall, will take place at London’s O2 arena in January and will be broadcast live on ITV1, with Dermot O’Leary taking over as host from Sir Trevor McDonald.

The South Bank Show returns for its final season, with film maker Tony Palmer’s sixteenth South Bank Show which examines The Wagner Family – a passionate and incendiary film that makes the usual family soap opera feel tame. The film uses as its back drop the Wagner’s glorious but poisoned legacy the Bayreuth Festival – the highest profile music festival in the world.

This South Bank Show uncovers the private workings of a family, the nearest equivalent the Germans have to Royalty, who have survived World Wars, Nazi occupation and its own internecine lies; to become one of the most intriguing, dominant and ultimately dangerous cultural families in Europe.

Look who's getting married.

Actress Emma Atkins films her first scenes reprising her role as one of the most memorable characters in Emmerdale’s history.

In the explosive episode, to be screened on Thursday 1 October, Charity is seen wearing a stunning wedding dress. But the identity of her mystery groom is being kept under wraps, along with details of whether the surprise wedding goes ahead.

ITV’s Director of Entertainment and Comedy, Elaine Bedell, today confirmed a new scheduling pattern for this year’s new series of The X Factor – which will see shows broadcast on ITV1 on Saturday and Sunday evenings when the hit programme reaches the live stage of the series in mid-Autumn.

Saturday will continue to be a showcase for the act’s performances whilst the results will be the centrepiece of a new peak time Sunday evening show, alongside performances from a range of special guest superstars.  Both Saturday and Sunday’s The X Factor shows will be broadcast live, with viewers also having a greater opportunity to vote for their chosen act over the weekend.

The first of another four cases for Miss Marple to solve on ITV1

Julia McKenzie, Agatha Christie’s famous spinster sleuth, Miss Marple, returns to ITV1 joined by an outstanding cast in the first of a series of new Marple films.

The Mirror Crack’d from Side to Side stars Samuel Barnett (Desperate Romantics, History Boys), Hugh Bonneville (Lost in Austen), Brennan Brown (Orange cinema commercials), Michele Dotrice (Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em), Lindsay Duncan (Margaret, Criminal Justice), Nigel Harman (Hotel Babylon, EastEnders), Martin Jarvis (Taking the Flack, Numb3rs), Joanna Lumley (Absolutely Fabulous), Caroline Quentin (Blue Murder, Life of Riley), Charlotte Riley (Wuthering Heights, The Take), Victoria Smurfit (Trial & Retribution), Neil Stuke (Monday, Monday), Hannah Waddingham (Spamalot) and singer Will Young.

Kate Garraway spoke on GMTV this morning about the birth of her second child, William Garraway Draper.

BEN SHEPHARD: Good morning Kate.

KATE GARRAWAY: Good morning, how are you two?

ITV1 has unveiled its Autumn 2009 season of programming, featuring a broad range of original content with brand new first-run drama, contemporary authored factual series, the return of some of the UK’s biggest entertainment shows, as well as live football, including England’s crucial World Cup qualifiers.

Peter Fincham, Director of Television, Channels and Online, said:

"ITV1 has enormous pulling power, as was very powerfully demonstrated by the phenomenal success of Britain's Got Talent.  It is a channel that brings people together not only in front of their televisions but also online, connecting audiences that are otherwise splintered by the multitude of choice on offer.

ITV scoops rights to new series The Vampire Diaries and the fifth Harry Potter film in content deal with Warner Bros. International Television distribution

Agreement Encompasses Substantial Feature Film Commitment and the Trend-Setting US Series Gossip Girl

In the first post-LA Screenings acquisition of a new US television programme in the UK, ITV has secured the rights to the one-hour series The Vampire Diaries, as well as the blockbuster feature film Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and a substantial number of additional theatrical motion pictures in a wide-ranging content deal with Warner Bros. International Television Distribution.