House of Rock is a satirical animation that aired on the UK's Channel 4 from 2000 to 2002. It revolved around the afterlives of some of the world's most famous dead rock stars, including Freddie Mercury, John Denver, The Notorious B.I.G., Kurt Cobain and Marc Bolan. Bolan was replaced in the second series by John Lennon. Forced to share a house in limbo, they try to cope with isolation, clashing personalities and relentless boredom.
The show aired as part of Channel 4's late-night 4 Music. Often, segments of the episode would appear as links between videos, reminiscent of Beavis and Butthead. On average, each episode was 15 minutes long.
The characters occupy a huge rundown house in a bleak, depressing landscape with nothing around seemingly for miles. Much of the comedy comes from each character's frustrations with their surroundings, associates and inability to do anything further now they're dead.
The Big One is a 1992 British comedy-drama television series starring Sandi Toksvig as Deddie Tolbert and Mike McShane as James Howard.
Seven episodes were broadcast on Channel 4 from 5 March to 16 April 1992. The series was written by Elly Brewer and Toksvig, and directed by John Henderson. Guest actors included Mel Martin, Jim Sweeney and Dexter Fletcher.
The show is referenced negatively in Bottom Live by Ade Edmondson.
Wanted was a British 1990s game show on Channel 4, although more similar to modern Reality Television than the classic gameshow format. Conceptually, it was similar to an advanced game of hide and seek. It is also somewhat similar to the game show featured in Stephen King's novel The Running Man.
Picture This is a cross-platform project from Channel 4, London about photography, in collaboration with independent TV producers Renegade Pictures and Flickr, the photosharing website.
Picture This comprises a short reality television series following the progress of six up and coming photographers as they are guided by a group of established photographers and gallery owners, and a website which is designed to help people improve their photography in a friendly, constructive environment.
The TV show takes the form of a constructive competition judged by photographer Martin Parr of the Magnum Photos photo agency, Brett Rogers of the Photographers' Gallery and Alex Proud of Proud Galleries.
The TV series consists of three hour long episodes, first broadcast in the UK in January 2008. The project was commissioned by Jan Younghusband and Adam Gee.
The six competitors were Aron Brown, Lucinda Chua, Elizabeth Gordon, Jay Mawson, Carolyn Mendelsohn and Edward Thompson. Elisabeth Gordon eventually won. The prize for t
Tonightly is a British comedy entertainment show presented by comedian Jason Manford. It was part of the Generation Next project on Channel 4 and was shown late evening, every weekday. The series concluded on 22 August 2008. The TNT Show, hosted by Jack Whitehall, was essentially a revamped second series of Tonightly.
Engineering Announcements for the Radio and Television Trade, sometimes abbreviated to Engineering Announcements, was a weekly magazine of news and information intended for technicians and salespeople in the United Kingdom, produced and transmitted by the Independent Television Authority from 23 November 1970 until 31 July 1990. It covered technical advances in the industry such as the launch of satellite television and NICAM stereo, along with details of new transmitters and the scheduling of transmitter downtime.
Engineering Announcements, and the BBC's similar Service Information, are examples of regularly scheduled "ghost programmes," so called because they were never advertised in on-air schedules, in newspaper TV listings, the TV Times or on teletext.
Time Team Extra was a British television series that aired on Channel 4 in 1998. Presented by Robin Bush, it was a companion programme to the archaeology series Time Team, that first aired on Channel 4 in 1994.
Time Team Extra is an eight-part series, with each episode accompanying an episode of Time Team's fifth series. The episodes looked more into the history of the site being excavated.
Time Team Digs is a British television series that aired on Channel 4 in 2002. Presented by the actor Tony Robinson, the show is a spin-off of the archaeology series Time Team, that first aired on Channel 4 in 1994. It is also known as Time Team Digs: A History of Britain.
Time Team Digs is an eight-part series looking at previous Time Team digs, with each episode focusing on a particular period in history, going from the Bronze Age to the modern day.
Pet Rescue was a British daytime TV series broadcast on Channel 4. Launched in January 1997, it chronicled various pets and animals being rescued, cared for, and then either rehoused or returned to the wild.
Produced by Bazal Productions/Endemol for Channel 4, and with a theme tune penned by Simon May, it ran to a set format, which developed little over time:
⁕A central presenter
⁕A location, based around an RSPCA office
⁕A couple of 'show' stories which were intertwined, and reached conclusion within that show - i.e.: animal rehoused/released into wild
⁕A longer story about a particular animal, species or animal issue
The program closed with an "advert" for a particular animal which had spent a lot of time in a rescue home, which the public could call in to apply to rehouse. This later feature followed normal RSPCA rehousing procedures, and was not a "lottery".
Presenters included:
⁕Mark Evans
⁕Tris Payne
⁕Matthew Robertson
⁕Wendy Turner Webster
⁕He
The Perfect Home is a television series of three 42 minute episodes commissioned for Channel 4 based on the book The Architecture of Happiness by Alain de Botton which first aired in 2006.
In the programmes, Alain de Botton explored the importance of innovative architecture for homes. He offered criticism of modern developments that build in an idealized fake heritage style, which he referred to as pastiche, often referring back to the example of Great Notley Garden Village near Braintree, Essex.
The first programme looks at how the current status quo came about where volume builders are typically building houses with architectural styles harking back to pre-industrial eras such as mock Tudor, neo-Georgian and mock country cottage façades.
The second looks at what defines a building's beauty, drawing parallels with the differences between the Catholic and Protestant ideals in their respective places of worship, suggesting the comparison was a trade off between decoration versus a more utilitarian approach
Unanimous was a United Kingdom-based game show broadcast on Channel 4 from 27 October 2006 to 15 December 2006. It was based on an American game show titled Unan1mous.
Unanimous: The Fallout, was shown on E4 later at night after Unanimous. It was hosted by comedians Paddy McGuinness and Olivia Lee and featured regular guest Karl Daly, played by Tom Bennett.
The 'Host' of the show was Alex Humes. Although fairly unknown, Humes starred in the reality TV programme Space Cadets, also for Channel 4, where he played one of the Russian pilots. The voice-over for the programme was provided by Phil Gallagher.
The show was not live but was recorded many weeks before airing. Contestants were not informed of the rules or objectives of the game before it started - only that they were going to be playing in a game show with a substantial prize fund, and they would be filmed non-stop in an enclosed environment.
Spirituality Shopper was a short lived British television series that ran on Channel 4 for 3 episodes in 2005. It was presented by Christian athlete, Jonathan Edwards. In each episode, a person looked at four different religious practices that could be implemented in their lives to see if it would bring them inner peace in the hustle and bustle of the 21st century. In each episode, four of the practices were looked at:
⁕Episode 1 - Michaela, who looks at Sufi Whirling, Buddhist Meditation, Christian Lent and Jewish Shabbat.
⁕Episode 2 - Karen, who looks at Christian Gospel singing, Sikh langars, Hindu yoga, and Christian Meditation.
⁕Episode 3 - Charlie, who looks at Taoist Tai Chi, Pagan drumming, Quaker contemplation and Islamic prayer.
Desperately Seeking Something is a British television series first broadcast on 6 November 1995, presented by travel writer and presenter Pete McCarthy. In it, McCarthy looked at various spiritual practices from across the globe, and meeting their practitioners. It ran for three series. The third series involved him looking at world traditional beliefs like Australian Aboriginal beliefs and Hawaiian religion. The second season looked more at Christian and Pagan sects, including the Fellowship of Isis and the Golden Dawn.
Before going on what would be referred to as a "spiritual journey", McCarthy said "I've taken on the role of everyman, I'm like lots of people who have given up religion and never replaced it with anything else."
Gophers! was a Channel 4 children's programme about a family of American gophers who move into a new neighbourhood, called Sycamore Heights, living next door to a family of uptight but well-intentioned rabbits, The Burrows.
There were many recurring jokes within this short lived show such as Arthur Burrows' vegetables planning a rebellion to escape his garden, a mad scientist ferret called Dr Wince, whose ambition was to conquer the world by obtaining a crystal buried in the Gophers' garden with the help of his reptilian servant Sly, and an alien in love with a zucchini determined to get home. Also there were Stereotypical "Mexican" cockroaches who lived in the Gophers' house or Trailer Park Mobile Home always trying to steal their food.
Get Your Act Together with Harvey Goldsmith is a Channel 4 television programme in which promoter Harvey Goldsmith is given six months to help revive the fortunes of six entertainment businesses or performers.
The acts and businesses he deals with are Irish singer and actress Samantha Mumba, husband and wife opera business Opera Anywhere, heavy metal band Saxon, radio station Big L 1395, Deighton Working Men's Club and Paulo's, Britain's oldest circus. He dealt with all simultaneously over a six-month period, but they are each given a separate show in the series.
Much of the show revolves around the battle between Goldsmith and the people who he is trying to help. The acts are often reluctant to take on board his advice, or even to change at all. Goldsmith is often frustrated at the slow pace at which those he is advising are progressing.
California Dreaming is a British reality television programme, broadcast on Channel 4's T4 strand, that followed six British celebrities seeking success in Hollywood. They lived in a Hollywood mansion and were trained by doing challenges set by acting guru Bernard Hillier. The programme's title came from the song "California Dreamin'" by The Mamas & the Papas.
Right to Reply was a British television series shown on Channel 4 from 1982 until 2001, which allowed viewers to voice their complaints or concerns about TV programmes. It featured reports, usually presented by a viewer, and interviews with the programme-makers concerned.