Clunes to island-hop Britain for ITV1 show
- Published: 30 July 2008 16:20
- Author: Kate McMahon
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- Last Updated: 30 July 2008 16:20
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ITV1 is sending Martin Clunes on a sailing tour of Britain's islands in a major primetime series.
The 3 x 60-minute Islands of Britain with Martin Clunes (working title) is being jointly made by indie Buffalo Pictures, which produces Doc Martin, and ITV Productions. It was commissioned by ITV's director of factual and daytime, Alison Sharman, and controller of popular factual, Jo Clinton-Davis.
Clunes will investigate the hundreds of islands around the UK, some of which are popular tourist destinations while others are almost unheard of. The Doc Martin star will travel the length and breadth of the country to explore them, meeting the people who live on them and hearing their stories.
Clunes said: "Islands are fas-cinating, I've always been drawn to them. Even today there is no accurate record of just how many islands there are off the coast of Great Britain, but it is at least 1,000. I can't get to all of them, but I'm thrilled to get this chance to discover first hand what living on an island is really like."
The series, which is scheduled to air early next year, will confirm Clunes' position as key talent for ITV1. The channel is already set to screen the two-parter Martin Clunes: A Man and His Dogs later this month. It was also made by Buffalo and ITVP.
Clinton-Davis said the series had been ordered because of the "combination of Martin Clunes' immersive journey, the extraordinary landscapes and lives he'll uncover and the search for an island paradise so close to home".
The series also fits with Sharman's desire to commission more authored journeys and celebrity-led passion projects. Last week she told Broadcast that last year's Robbie Coltrane's B Road Britain proved the genre could pull in ratings for ITV1.
