Channel 4 has revealed the future of its popular daytime show A Place in the Sun, amid the channel’s cull of shows to save cash.
It’s good news for fans of the property programme, as not only is it here to stay, but its sister programme has also been commissioned for another season.
In the unexpected move, a new series of the show’s spin-off, A Place in the Sun: What Happened Next, has got the greenlight from bosses.
The spin-off sees presenters and property experts such as Laura Hamilton, Leah Charles-King, and Jasmine Harman take a trip down memory lane and revisit some of the people they helped to relocate in previous years.
The hosts take a trip abroad to catch up with those they personally helped get settled in another country and find out how they have been getting on since.
Channel 4 has revealed the future of its popular daytime show A Place in the Sun, amid the channel’s cull of shows to save cash
It’s good news for fans of the property programme, as not only is it here to stay, but its sister programme has also been commissioned for another season
The spin-off sees presenters and property experts such as Laura Hamilton (pictured above) take a trip down memory lane and revisit some of the people they helped to relocate
A Place In The Sun: What Happened Next has only aired one series so far consisting of 10 episodes, which seemingly proved popular with viewers.
Daytime commissioner Jo Street said: ‘A Place in the Sun is such a beloved show, and we know the audience really cares what happens to the house-hunters once the cameras leave.
‘What a treat to catch up and see what happened when that offer was finally accepted.’
The programme will revisit families and couples as far back as 2007 who took the plunge and bought a property aboard.
Senior Executive Producer, Michelle Heeley added: ‘It’s been wonderful to revisit these house-hunters who are thriving in their new homes in the sun.
‘We are immensely proud to have helped change so many people’s lives. It’s a testament to all the hard work our production team and presenters have put in over the past 23 years. I can’t wait for viewers to see what happens next.’
Many of the previous house-hunters are soaking up the sun, and enjoying a slower pace of life, while others have been busy renovating barns, re-wilding, living an eco-friendly lifestyle, running B&Bs, and working harder than ever.
A Place in the Sun is a firm fan-favourite, being one of the longest-running series on Channel 4.
It has now been on air for more than 21 years.
The hosts take a trip abroad to catch up with those they helped get settled in another country and find out how they have been getting on since (Leah Charles-King pictured above)
A Place in the Sun: What Happened Next has only aired one series so far consisting of 10 episodes, which seemingly proved popular with viewers
The spin-off being commissioned for another season comes as Channel 4 have axed a string of shows this year and revealed back in January their plans to make hundreds of staff redundant
The spin-off’s recommission comes amid Channel 4 axing a string of shows this year.
The broadcaster also revealed back in January plans to make hundreds of staff redundant.
Channel 4 will also be abandoning its London HQ, the Horseferry Road office, which it have been based out of since 1994, and instead will find a new office elsewhere in London.
In June, the closure of five channels was announced – The Box music channels 4Music, The Box, Kiss, Magic and Kerrang!
A spokesperson for Channel 4 told The Sun: ‘As we announced earlier this year as part of Channel 4’s digital-first Fast Forward strategy, we will be closing our Box network of channels from 1 July across all platforms – as they are no longer of sufficient scale to deliver meaningful return on investment.
‘Our strategy reflects the generational shift in TV viewing and involves reducing costs – particularly in linear activities – to allow us to invest in digital priorities and stay competitive in a world of global entertainment conglomerates and social media giants.’
The channel has been forced to cancel a handful of programmes recently, including SAS: Who Dares Wins and Steph’s Packed Lunch, as part of efforts to reduce costs.
Danny Dyer’s popular show Scared of the Dark has also been axed after just one series, despite its huge success.
The experimental TV show asked a whole host of famous faces to live in complete darkness for a week as they were tasked with various challenges.
The channel has been forced to cancel a handful of programmes recently, including SAS: Who Dares Wins and Steph’s Packed Lunch (pictured), as part of efforts to reduce costs
Danny Dyer’s popular show Scared of the Dark has also been axed after just one series despite its huge success
Meanwhile Channel 4’s Hollyoaks will also have fewer episodes airing each week from September (Malique Thompson Dwyer and Jennifer Metcalfe pictured on soap in 2021)
Despite initial rumours of a second series being in the works and even talks of lining up Nigel Farage for the programme, Banged Up became the latest Channel 4 show to be axed
Former footballer Paul Gascoigne was crowned the series winner after living eight days in complete darkness, beating Love Island’s Chloe Burrows, ex boxer Chris Eubank and comedian Chris McCausland in the competition.
Despite raking in more than a million viewers, Channel 4 has decided against reviving it for a second series, according to Deadline.
Meanwhile Channel 4’s Hollyoaks will also have fewer episodes airing each week from September.
The soap, which airs on streamer 4OD, E4 and YouTube, will be slashed from five episodes per week to three.
The channel said that they were making the change because it is the ‘optimum pattern to keep heartland audiences hooked and attract new ones in a highly saturated content market,’ based on Channel 4 data.
The latest show to fall victim to the cuts is BAFTA-nominated documentary series Banged Up.
Among the star-studded line-up who took part in season one were EastEnders actor Sid Owen, Gogglebox star Marcus Luther and the Mail’s Peter Hitchens.
Season one of the four-part documentary series, which first aired in October 2023, followed a group of male celebrities as they swapped their normal lives for a stint at the decommissioned Shrewsbury Prison.
The participants were locked up for eight days, during which they were kept in cells, given jobs and subjected to body searches. They were attended to by real former prison guards and real ex-criminals.
It was so impactful that it even got nominated for a BAFTA Award for Best Reality, losing out to Netflix’s Squid Game: The Challenge.
But, the broadcaster has confirmed it won’t be returning, and described the programme as a ‘one-off social experiment’.
