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Deepfake Queen Elizabeth II will deliver 'alternative' Christmas message (updated)
Just about every year since 1952, Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom has delivered a Christmas address to the masses, and 2020 will be no different. Shortly after she gives her remarks, however, British broadcaster Channel 4 will air an “alternative message” from the Queen, brought to life by deepfake software and an actress with a pseudo-regal affect. “On the BBC, I haven’t always been able to speak plainly and from the heart,” the “Queen” said in a promo posted to the broadcaster’s Twitter.
Watch the official trailer for Netflix's 'Top Boy' revival
Netflix announced back in 2017 that it was planning on reviving popular UK drama Top Boy -- now you can finally watch its first proper trailer. The long-awaited third season -- made a reality thanks to Canadian megastar Drake --- will pick up from where it left off, with Dushane returning to the gritty streets of London to reclaim his crown as king of the underground drug business. From the looks of the trailer, things aren't going to go according to plan. Catch it on Netflix on September 13th.
Charlie Brooker's 'Black Mirror' could become a Netflix exclusive
Only seven episodes of Charlie Brooker's Black Mirror have been made, but their dark and unsettling depictions of the future have garnered a sizeable cult following. Now, Radio Times is reporting that the show has attracted the attention of Netflix, and that the streaming service is keen to pull the show away from British broadcaster Channel 4. The show debuted in the UK in 2011, but it wasn't until last December that it landed on Netflix in the US. The last six months will have exposed the series to a massive audience -- at the same time, the streaming service is looking for popular shows to add to its growing "Originals" initiative. Charlie Brooker has previously confirmed that a third series is in the works, but so far we've only been treated to a Christmas special. If Netflix can persuade Brooker to switch allegiances, it would be another critically acclaimed show to slip in between seasons of Daredevil, Orange is the New Black and House of Cards.
E4 will 'shut down' on election day to encourage young people to vote
What's the best way to encourage young people to vote? There's no definitive answer, but switching off a TV channel is one of the more unusual ideas we've heard about. For the UK's General Election on May 7th, Channel 4 says it will "shut down" E4 from 7am and instead show a fictional character called Darren. As promotional ads reveal, the idea is that Darren runs E4 behind the scenes, and will be turning off the channel to make sure everyone places their vote. It's not like E4 will actually close down that day, but still, it's brave of the broadcaster to abandon its usual slate of shows, ads and promos. We're interested to see how the public reacts -- it's a little patronising to suggest all of Britain's youth is incapable of voting and watching The Big Bang Theory in a single day.
Channel 4 creates its own video game publishing arm
Channel 4 is gearing up to launch its own video game publisher. The UK broadcaster has commissioned mobile games before, but they've often been specific projects that relate to its most popular programming. Now, it wants to offer additional support to the indie developer community. Channel 4 will continue to fund a smattering of games, but its new "All 4 Games" brand will offer broader games development, marketing and promotional support. So even if Channel 4 isn't funding the title, the idea is that its guidance and experience will justify a small cut of developers' revenues. That includes publishing games on all of the major app stores, as well as promoting them through its new All 4 video streaming service. What's not clear, however, is the exact cut Channel 4 will be taking from the games. The mobile space is brutal, especially now that the free-to-play model is so prevalent, so the broadcaster will need to prove its services represent good value.
4oD catch-up apps now support mobile streaming
While Channel 4's catch-up service 4oD has been available on mobile for a number of years, viewers were always limited to streaming their favourite shows over a Wi-Fi connection. That changed at the start of the month when the broadcaster updated its iOS app to deliver streams over 3G and 4G connections. It took a couple of weeks, but it's now equipped its Android app with the same capability. That means you can now stream full Channel 4, E4 and More4 programmes when you're on the move and enjoy "4Shorts," hundreds of clips, extras and trailers from your favourite shows. If you wanted to stream Countdown while on your daily commute, you can now do so on either your iOS or Android device.
Freeview planning to kill YouView with a new connected TV service
All's fair in love and war, especially if you're a major UK broadcaster. Once big investors in YouView, the BBC, ITV and Channel 4 have agreed plans to wound the service they helped create by doubling-down on Freeview. The three companies (joined by Sky and Arqiva) are attempting to secure the free-to-air service's future by developing a new branded connected TV platform that will bring on-demand (or catch-up) content to Freeview for the first time. The five-year deal will see TV channels and on-demand apps like iPlayer, ITV Player and 4oD come as standard on smart TVs with internet connections. It deliberately goes against BT and TalkTalk, which have been accused of taking YouView's free-to-air principles and turning it into a paid (and quite pricey, if you include the cost of the box) service. Given that Freeview is already widely supported, the Beeb et al. may find it easy to convince TV manufacturers to adopt a new connected variant. If they do, expect on-demand services to come embedded as standard in the near future.
Microsoft partners with UK studio to produce sci-fi drama 'Humans'
Microsoft is pushing forward on its original television programming initiative by partnering with UK broadcaster Channel 4 and production company Kudos to create a drama series called Humans. The sci-fi drama is an English-language adaptation of Sveriges Television and Matador Film's series Real Humans, and depicts a modern family that lives with a highly-developed robotic servant known as a "Synth." The show will air on the Xbox platform in North America and Channel 4 in the UK in 2015. What's more, Bloomberg recently interviewed Microsoft's President of Entertainment and Digital Media Nancy Tellem about the company's media ambitions on Xbox Live. Tellem said Microsoft's approach to television, which spans multiple genres like sports, animation and feature-length projects, will be "under the banner of Xbox Originals." Tellem also touched on the properties that Microsoft owns, such as Fable, Age of Empires, Gears of War and Forza, noting that "these are the things that frankly if we weren't attached to Microsoft everyone would yearn to have." Tellem is the head of Xbox Entertainment Studios, which set its sights on "interactive TV" in February 2013. One of the company's projects is a live-action show based on the Halo series that has ties to Steven Spielberg, which Tellem assured is still in development. As far as the expansion of the Halo brand is concerned, while no movie based on the property is in sight, a "digital feature" for Halo is expected to launch this year. Additionally, former AMC programming director Ari Mark joined Xbox Entertainment in January to create unscripted video content. [Image: Xbox Entertainment Studios]
UK's Channel 4 finds new reality TV trend in The Sims 3
When reality television made its first foray into prime time, it was fairly clear why networks jumped on the trend with such enthusiasm. "Do we want to pay paltry sums of money to film untrained, attention-hungry people doing strange things in equally cheap locations? Yes. One thousand times yes." And then they did it, more than 1,000 times.The UK's Channel 4 has taken that one trend deeper, getting rid of the real people completely with "SuperMe," a TV show filmed entirely in The Sims 3. SuperMe follows four Sims living together and is completely unscripted, except for the narrator, who provides insight into what the Sims are thinking, feeling and doing. As producer Somethin' Else describes it, "It's like real life, but improvised by robots."The first episode is available to watch above -- personally, we find it more entertaining with this commentary.
'Steve Jobs: iChanged the World' documentary airs tonight on UK's Channel 4 (and on PBS in the US)
A note to our UK readers that Channel 4's documentary Steve Jobs: iChanged the World will air tonight at 11:05 PM local time. That's about an hour and a half from now, so set your DVRs. From Channel 4's description: Through interviews with the people who Steve Jobs knew and who worked closely with him over the years, Steve Jobs: iChanged the World takes an unflinching look at his difficult, controlling reputation, and offers a unique insight into what made him tick. In a never-before-broadcast, rare interview, Steve Jobs expounds his own philosophy of life, and offers advice to us all on changing our own lives to achieve our ambitions, our desires and our dreams. Steve looked back over his astonishing career and explained the principles on which he built his success. The same documentary will also air in the US tonight on PBS with the title Steve Jobs – One Last Thing. PBS will air the documentary at 10 PM Eastern and again at 10 PM Pacific.
ITV and Channel 4 on demand coming to PS3s in the UK this week
After long last, British television services ITV and Channel 4 are coming to PlayStation 3 in the UK this week. The BBC's iPlayer service launched on the console a little while back (first unofficially and then officially), but this new development brings some of Britain's most popular on-demand content, including shows Coronation Street and The Inbetweeners (both of which many US readers have probably never heard of), to Sony's console. Channel 4 tells the Guardian that it is "not saying no" to a similar deal with Microsoft for the Xbox 360, but that the other console company isn't seeking out a deal either. And the Wii is a no-go, apparently, because the platform can't offer advertising options. Both services should, however, launch on the PS3 for free to UK users sometime this week. If you're jealous of the UK's extra video content, US viewers, just head on over to Hulu and imagine what life would be like if every video you hit play on just told you it was "not available in your region." Yeah. Let them have their fun. Update: A previous version of this post stated that the BBC owned ITV and Channel 4, but they are actually competing public television services in Britain. Sorry for the confusion.
PS3 to start streaming ITV and Channel 4 content in the UK this week
Our British mates aboard the VOD ship may look a little cheerier today as The Guardian reports both ITV and Channel 4 -- two of the nation's foremost commercial channels -- are bringing their video catchup services to the PlayStation 3. The ITV Player and 4OD have been available as web-based services for a while, but they've both now agreed deals with Sony, who projects their overall traffic will improve by around 10 percent as a result. ITV's leaving the door wide open for adding its content to "other consoles," web-connected TVs, and tablets like the iPad, whereas Channel 4 has found Microsoft unforthcoming about Xbox 360 deals and the Wii inhospitable because it doesn't support advertising. For its part, Sony's clearly making a big content push, having recently welcomed Lovefilm into the fold and completed the rollout of its Qriocity on-demand facility across Europe. Does anyone even play games on these things anymore?
UK's Channel 4 kills digital innovation fund [Update: Lots of gaming still 'on the slate for 2011' at Channel 4]
The UK's Channel 4 is ceasing 4iP, its £20m digital innovation fund. The division was responsible for digital innovations like AudioBoo and Privates. Any projects currently in development will finish and the remaining 40 percent of the fund will be redistributed. We remembered that Channel 4 was funding Introversion's Chronometer, but studio co-founder Mark Morris tells us it "never got taken forward beyond the concept stage." Morris elaborated, "Sad news about C4 though, they were doing some good in the business." [Update 10/8 3pm ET: Channel 4's Alice Taylor – you may recognize her blog, Wonderland! – took to the comments to clarify how this affects some projects: "Naw. Mixup. 4iP is going, but it wasn't responsible for Privates. 4iP's closure doesn't affect The Curfew, or Privates DLC, or 1066, or Smokescreen, or Cover Girl, or Trafalgar Origins, or 303 Squadron, or Ada, or Bow Street Runner, or the 8 or so new game commissions we've got on the slate for 2011. 4iP's games: Papa Sangre and friends, they'll still turn up too. Hope that helps! It sure does. Thanks, Alice!]
Zombie Cow Studios' new game Privates is already inside you
You may have heard by now that we're big fans of Zombie Cow, the studio behind the point-and-click genius of Ben There, Dan That and Time Gentlemen, Please. And by "big fans" we mean we love it so much it makes our hearts hurt a little bit. So imagine the squeals of pure childlike delight echoing from Joystiq's penthouse HQ when we saw that Zombie Cow's new game Privates, funded by the UK's Channel 4, had finally been unveiled. Straying from the adventure gaming of the Dan and Ben games, Privates is a twin-stick shooter/platformer that -- and we're quoting here -- follows "a teeny-tiny gang of condom-hatted marines as they delve into peoples' vaginas and bottoms and blast away at all manner of oozy, shouty monsters." What's more, Zombie Cow's Dan Marshall hints this journey into the body may even be slightly educational. You'll be able to find out for yourself when the game arrives for free on PC this summer and on the Xbox 360 at an unspecified time and price point. %Gallery-92757%
UK Channel 4 set to throw some 3D programming our way
Sony and Panasonic are both hellbent on convincing us their forthcoming super-duper 3D television sets are the future, but before we all start selling off the children and re-mortgaging our homes, how about a little taster of what it might be like? Channel 4, the British answer to a question nobody ever asked, is about to offer up a selection of 3D programming this month, which it dubs as a return to "good old fashioned fun." The menu includes a documentary about the Queen's coronation (in other words, ancient history), a magic show, and even a couple of goodies like Flesh for Frankenstein and Friday the 13th, Part III. If we find can remember to get down to the local Sainsbury's and grab ourselves a free pair of those rad-looking three-dee glasses, you might even be treated to our eyes-on impressions. Watch this three-dimensional space! [Thanks, Mitch T]
Freeview HD sets a date: December 2
Finally, after much delay, we have a date to expect Freeview HD service in the UK, at least for those in range of the Winter Hill transmitter (Manchester & Liverpool for sure,) it will go live December 2. elsewhere, you'll be waiting until at least 2010 to experience the joys of OTA HD as has been promised, but keep an eye out and the Beeb, ITV and Channel 4 should be coming your way. Anyone know if those New Zealand PlayTV Freeview HD adaptations will be back-compatible to the UK?
Channel Four on Demand: Sorry, Mac users
Mac users in the UK have been waiting a long time (like, years) for Channel 4's Video on Demand "Catch Up" service to come to their platform, and finally, after long last, the day is here. And they're sorry, Mac users -- they say so with the cute video above. Of course, the reason why it's now compatible is because it's the Flash-based web version linked above, and not actually the desktop app that Windows users had. But late and web-based is still better than never, right? Right?At any rate, it's nice to know they care enough to make a funny video. The site features Channel 4 content for up to 30 days after broadcast, so if you happen to miss Hollyoaks, Skins, or Fat Pets (I'm just kidding -- being an ignorant American, I have no idea what those shows are or if they're any good), there's your chance to catch up.
HD versions of ITV, Channel 4 and BBC coming to Freeview HD in 2009
Let us speak for all of the UK when we inhale a deep breath of fresh air and say: "Finally!" After hearing earlier this year that plans were in place for Freeview to take the HD plunge in the UK, Ofcom has just made it official. Beginning next year, ITV, Channel 4 and BBC will launch high-def channels on the platform, with an expected go-live date of "late autumn" 2009. It was also confirmed that a fourth HD channel was expected to launch by 2010. As for coverage areas, it's slated to be available in the Granada region next year, followed by Wales, Scotland and the West Country in 2010; Central, Yorkshire, Anglia and Meridian in 2011; and London, Tyne Tees and Ulster by 2012. Oh, and we hate to burst your bubble somewhat, but an all-new set-top-box will be required to juggle both the MPEG-4 and DVB-T2 standards -- bugger![Thanks, Ruaidhri]
Introversion working on Chronometer with Channel 4
Introversion, whose previous efforts include the excellent Darwinia and DEFCON, are currently developing Chronometer. The project, funded by broadcaster Channel 4, is nearing completion of the pre-production phase. Other than an anecdote about how it totally blew co-founder Mark Morris' mind, there are no details about the game."Ultimately we don't know for certain if Chronometer will be going into full production," writes Chris Delay, "the conditions would have to be right for Introversion and for Channel 4, although they've been fantastic to work with during pre-production." The studio is currently "all-hands-on-deck" finishing up Multiwinia, with Darwinia+ for Xbox Live and Subversion to follow after that.[Thanks, Sam]
Promotional Consideration: Dual screen theatre
Promotional Consideration is a weekly feature about the Nintendo DS advertisements you usually flip past, change the channel on, or just tune out. The following DS Lite ads were taken from a series of Nintendo-sponsored station identification pieces (idents) aired over a year ago on Channel 4. For those of you unfamiliar with idents, they're short spots, often themed, stuck in between television shows to help "brand" the channel. In the case of this set, the UK public-service TV station bookended its comedy programs with Japanese theatre-styled advertisements for the DS's features and games. They're some of the most creative commercials we've seen for the handheld, so don't skip this post!
