Autumn TV highlights on Freeview from Channel 4 and E4

29 September 2011

Channel 4, Channel 4 HD and E4 have just announced a whole host of shows coming to Freeview this autumn. We’ve gone through the listings and hand-picked the best highlights that are coming up, mixing comedy, drama and documentary.

These programmes, both new and returning, will have you pressing series link faster than we can say Freeview+.

The Empty Homes Show will be shedding some light on the scandal that sits at the heart of the British housing crisis. Two million British families don’t have proper housing but a staggering one million homes lie empty across the country. Enraged by this senseless waste, architect and ambassador for Shelter, George Clarke , calls on the British public to help him find empty homes in their communities and get the government use them.

Girls will be Boys and Boys will be Girls explores the challenges of being ‘transgender' in a world that can be quick to judge and even faster to comment. The four-part series follows the stories of seven people, who are all at different stages of their transition, coming together to support each other as they make the transition from the sex they were born to the person that they are.  

In an attempt to solve a mystery that has baffled scientists for centuries, Mummy Me will be looking at how the Ancient Egyptians were able to perfectly preserve their pharaohs for millennia. Pioneering scientists hope to unlock this 3000-year-old enigma by lifting the lid on the ancient tombs.

Channel 4 will also be focusing on Drama and there’s a timely, honest and gripping rendition of inner-city urban drug and gang culture.  Top Boy looks at the heart of life in a world that most of us will only ever see on TV. This original four-part drama will showcase a fresh and dynamic line up of first-time actors brought together by an extensive talent search.

Black Mirror is a contemporary British re-work of The Twilight Zone by Charlie Brooker, with stories that tap into our nightmares. These three stand-alone dramas are sharp, suspenseful and satirical tales of the unknown.

On a different note, Shane Meadows is set to follow up on the explosive This Is England '86 with  This Is England '88. Haunted by the devastating events which took place 18 months previously, soul mates, Lol and Woody both find themselves in self-imposed exile from each other and the gang.

The team behind the inimitable Comic Strip returns this autumn with one of the comedy highlights of the season.  Comic Strip: The Hunt for Tony Blair is a 60 minute 1950's-style film which follows Prime Minister Tony Blair (Stephen Mangan) who is wanted for murder and is on the run. The all-star cast includes Robbie Coltrane as Inspector Hutton, Nigel Planer as Peter Mandelson, Jennifer Saunders as Margaret Thatcher, Harry Enfield as Alistair Campbell, Rik Mayall as Professor Predictor, Morgana Robinson as Carole Caplin, John Sessions as Thatcher's butler and Ross Noble as an ‘old Labour' Tramp.

Stand-up sensation Jack Whitehall is also headlining his own brand-new entertainment series called  Hit the Road Jack. Packing his bags and hitting the road to find the best that Britain has to offer, Jack will be joined along the by special guest celebrities and comedians.

The Mad Bad Ad Show is a new comedy panel starring Micky Flanagan and Mark Watson. As team captains, the pair find out if they've got what it takes to make it in the world of advertising. As well as undertaking challenges they will be joined by some of Britain's sharpest comic brains to dissect and lampoon ads from the past, present and overseas.

In addition, Kayvan Novak, star of BAFTA winning Fonejacker and more recently Sirens, returns with a second series of the Facejacker and Rafe Spall returns to Channel 4 for a second series of the hit comedy sitcom  Pete Versus Life.

Moving on to an impressive series of factual programmes, Channel 4 turns to science in a major new five-part series where Professor Stephen Hawking presents  a global exploration of the breakthrough’s of the 21st century. Aided by some of the world's leading scientific figures, including Sir David Attenborough, Richard Dawkins, Aarathi Prasad, Lord Winston and Maggie Aderin-Pocock, Brave New World reveals how science has changed the world, battling the world's killer diseases, breaking down the barriers between man and machine and expanding our understanding of the universe.

The Food Hospital examines the science behind food and how it can be used as medicine. In experiments conducted with strict scientific rigour, patients suffering from a range of medical conditions and symptoms are prescribed specific diets to find out if their health problems can be cured by the food they eat.

In  Living with the Amish, the notoriously private Amish community opens its doors to a group of British teenagers in a new six-part series. The teens leave their mobile phones, Facebook accounts and partying behind, as they head to Ohio to see if they can hack six weeks of hard work and simple living.

After the brilliant and highly successful observational documentaries such as The Hotel, One Born Every Minute and 24 Hours in A&E, Channel 4 now turns its watchful eye to soldiers on the front line, nurses in the NHS and the classrooms of Britain’s schools.

Confessions of a Nurse, filmed over a year at a major NHS trust, paints an intimate and revealing portrait of nurses in 2011. With unprecedented access to a school,  Educating Essex which began in September, follows a group of final year students and the staff who teach them, revealing what life is really like for pupils and teachers of an English secondary school. Filmed on and off the battlefield in Afghanistan,  Fighting on the Frontline follows the story of a group of servicemen and women fighting the war from three unique perspectives - on foot, in the air and from behind the wheel of armoured vehicles.

Cutting Edge returns with a new series of revelatory documentaries including  Britain's Most Extreme Hoarder.  On paper Mr Wallace is a millionaire and despite his wealth he lives in abject poverty with every room stuffed with newspapers and other household items. He has to crawl over mountains of papers and magazines simply to move from room to room and he has to sleep sitting on piles of junk. Film-maker Christian Trumble gets unique access into his intriguing home, a place where no one has ever ventured before. Other shows include the inside story on Mark Stone, Britain's most controversial undercover cop, and a film about one of the worst serial killings in American history The Craigslist Killings.

And rest assured some of Channel 4's biggest and best names are back with new series this autumn.

Having made her name overhauling the retail industry and teaching shopkeepers exceptional customer service skills, can the high street Queen cut the mustard in her own fashion venture?  Mary Queen of Frocks sees Mary Portas launch and sell her own fashion range exclusively aimed at what she feels is a gap in the market - high street style that works for women, not girls.

In a brand new series, Kevin McCloud sets out to prove what Britain's housing industry said couldn't be done - to build beautiful, contemporary, affordable, sustainable homes and still make money. Increasingly frustrated that so many people in Britain live in poorly designed outdated houses,  Kevin's Grand Design follows this personal, five-year-long project on which Kevin is staking his reputation and his savings. The channel also welcomes a brand new series of  Grand Designs this season.

Derren Brown returns to Channel 4 this autumn in  Derren Brown: The Experiments, a brand new four-part series that sees Derren pushing the boundaries in terms of size and scale. Each of the stand-alone episodes takes the form of a giant social experiment, some of which have been inspired by classic psychology tests, others concocted by Derren himself to illustrate how easily our behaviour can be manipulated.

Jamie Oliver travels the length and breadth of the country in search of new ideas and to find out what makes British food great in  Jamie's Britain. He discovers that many of the dishes we think of as British classics aren't ‘British' at all, but full of influences from around the world through invasion, exploration, colonisation and immigration. Jamie will also be in the kitchen cooking delicious classic dishes with a twist including Tandoori Roast Chicken and Apple Pepperpot Pudding.

And as if that's not enough  Gok's Clothes Road Show,  Kirstie's Handmade Britain,  River Cottage Veg,  Beeny's Restoration Nightmare,  Million Pound Drop,  Alan Carr: Chatty Man will all be back with new series.

Over on E4, there’s a great selection of comedy, drama and entertainment coming your way.

Noel Fielding, the co-creator of The Mighty Boosh is back and this time he's taking things to another level. Bringing his own distinctive brand of psychedelic comedy to E4, Noel Fielding's Luxury Comedy is a character based comedy that’s half filmed and half animated.

The brilliant Chris Addison  presents  Show & Tell from September which sees him joined each week by three up and coming comics, who will each bring some things to "show" and "tell" the audience about. The items - whether they relate to something topical, personal or completely random - are the launch pad for them to each perform a mini solo stand-up routine, ‘telling' the audience about their chosen item, and ‘showing' why it’s funny.

Already an online phenomenon, with over 38 million views of their comedy songs to date,  The Midnight Beast arrives on E4 early next year. This spanking new TV sitcom features band members Stefan Abingdon, Dru Wakely and Ashley Horne as struggling musicians, alongside a host of comedic guest stars.

Cardinal Burns is a new comedy sketch show written and performed by Seb Cardinal and Dustin Demri-Burns. Sketches range from silly and cartoonish to smart, contemporary concepts; re-occurring characters include Office Flirt, New Guy; Phil and Terry the Cockney Midgets.

Comedy Labs, the comedy strand that launched the careers of Peter Kay, Russell Brand and Jimmy Carr, as well as uncovering such gems as Modern Toss and Fonejacker, is also back for new run. Six brand new half hour commissions starting this September, include  Anna and Katy which sees acclaimed sketch double act Anna Crilly and Katy Wix bring their brand of character comedy to the channel and  Totally Tom,  a unique and sometimes macabre scripted comedy/sketch show, written and performed by Tom Palmer and Tom Stourton.

Over on High Street UK the priority is to ‘shift units, make money, smash targets...' and no one knows that better than the staff of  PhoneShop. Lance and his sales team are back for a second series this November and things are more competitive than ever. Everyone is feeling the pinch and with star salesman Little Gary Patel still detained at Her Majesty's Pleasure, the Sutton Branch of PhoneShop needs to take action. Look out for another jaw-dropping cameo appearance from Kayvan Novak (Fonejacker, Four Lions).

Say hello to  The Dirty Digest  in November: a wickedly funny headlong dive into the world of fame and celebrity as host Michelle de Swarte (Party People for Comic Relief 2011; The Fashion Show, ITV2) and her panel of bright young things pick apart and pour over a week in the lives of the stars. They'll be examining the latest celeb trends, revelling in bad superstar behaviour, laughing at the funniest clips from around the world, gasping over the latest gossip, and generally celebrating all things celebrity.

The very stylish Rick Edwards continues to provide his own unique brand of relationship counselling in  Tool Academy 2  from November .  This year's students need more help than ever to cure them of their Toolish ways. The guys think they are competing for the coveted title of 'King of Men', enjoying arousing back rubs from sexy masseurs and sucking lemons from the mouths of giggling tequila girls. Little do they know, their long-suffering girlfriends are watching every move. And they are not pleased. Expect more tears, more tats, more tension - and more Tools.

Misfits is back for a brand new with Joe Gilgun (star of This Is England '86) enrolling for community service as new guy Rudy. He zips up the infamous orange jumpsuit alongside resident delinquents Bafta winner Lauren Socha, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, Antonia Thomas and Iwan Rheon in the super-sized series which sees its run extended to eight episodes.

New Girl sees Zooey Deschanel take the central role of Jess Day, a quirky, adorable woman in her late 20s, who following a bad breakup with her boyfriend, moves in with three single guys. This single-camera comedy from Liz Meriwether (No Strings Attached) features a young ensemble cast which takes a fresh and outrageous look at modern male/female relationships.

Emmy® Award winner Michael Patrick King (Sex and the City) and white-hot stand-up comedian Whitney Cummings have created 2 Broke Girls  which comes to E4 later in the year.  Two girls from opposite ends of the social spectrum wind up as waitresses in the same colourful Brooklyn diner. On paper they are poles apart, but the two strike up an unlikely friendship that could lead to a successful business venture. All they need to do is come up with $250,000 in start-up expenses. While Max and Caroline can barely make their rent, these two girls prove that life can be fun, even if you're flat broke.

And lastly,  Charlie's Angels zip up their ass kicking boots to bring some hot Miami action to the new look line up. And proving that geek chic really is in fashion, everyone's favourite science nerd Shelton returns in the US's No1 comedy, the Emmy award winning  Big Bang Theory.

All programme titles are subject to change. Keep your eye on the Freeview TV Guide  for air dates and times.