Channel 4 announces Lockdown Academy
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Channel 4 has announced a raft of new programming under the banner of Lockdown Academy.
Apart from new content including an art show with Grayson Perry and a craft programme with Kirstie Allsopp, the previously-announced daily series The Steph Show will now be broadcast live from the home of presenter Steph McGovern, and brought forward to begin transmission on Monday 30 March.
In Grayson’s Art Club (w/t), from Swan Films, Grayson Perry will try to teach the public how to sculpt, draw and create at home.
The programme will encourage viewers to use the time in isolation to produce visual representations of these unprecedented times.
Grayson will eventually display the art created in an exhibition to chronicle the changing mood.
Kirstie’s House of Craft (w/t) is from Raise The Roof Productions, and will be broadcast daily. Kirstie Allsopp will present her creative ideas and craft projects, including tips and tricks to use simple materials available around the home.
Also on the Lockdown Academy slate is Lockdown Wedding Live, from Multistory Media North. Fred Sirieux will oversee an online wedding celebration for a bride and groom who have had to postpone their wedding plans due to the Covid-19 outbreak.
The previously-announced Jamie: Keep Cooking and Carry On is also part of the tranche of lockdown programming.
C4 director of Programming Ian Katz said: “The coronavirus outbreak is an enormous creative challenge for all broadcasters and though it is having a profound impact on getting some of our productions onto screen, it’s also a time when public service broadcasters like Channel 4 can step up and help people navigate through the extraordinary challenges we all now face.”
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