WBD UK & Ireland reveals production slate
July 12, 2023
Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) UK & Ireland has commissioned a host of new and returning series across the Reality, True Crime, Paranormal, Property, Food and Medical genres. Eleven new and returning titles will drop on discovery+ and air across linear channels, Really, Food Network and Quest Red, in 2023 and early 2024.
As fans look forward to the second season of 90 Day Fiancé UK dropping on July 16th on discovery+, WBD UK & Ireland has commissioned a 1×90 Tell All special available on discovery+ this autumn. Following in the footsteps of the US show, this format will be hosted by comedian, actor and writer Katherine Ryan, who will delve into the stories of the viewers’ favourite couples, discovering their latest news, gossip and unresolved arguments.
The popular VS format produced by Optomen, makers of Johnny vs Amber and Kim vs Kanye: The Divorce will also return to discovery+ later this year with Gwyneth vs Terry: The Ski Crash Trial and Peltz-Beckham vs The Wedding Planners. Each 2×30 series will take a look at some of the most talked about legal battles with access to those close to the cases. The clash between the Oscar-winning actor turned wellness entrepreneur Gwyneth Paltrow, and retired optometrist Terry Sanderson, led to an avalanche of press and social media reactions. The second docuseries unpacks the very different point of views of the Peltz-Beckhams and the wedding planners they fired just weeks before the ceremony.
Following the success of Jack Osbourne’s Haunted Homecoming which dropped on discovery+ in 2022, fans of ghostly investigations can look forward to new series Jack Osbourne’s Tasmanian Terror on discovery+ this October. Jack, son of heavy metal singer Ozzy Osbourne and global paranormal investigator, teams up with some of Australia’s premier ghost hunters and together they explore the most haunted place in the southern hemisphere – the cruel former penal colony in Hobart, Tasmania. Produced by NHNZ Worldwide, the 2×60 Jack Osbourne’s Tasmanian Terror will drop on discovery+ just in time for Halloween.
Staying with Paranormal, WBD UK & Ireland has also commissioned two new seasons of Back2Back-produced Celebrity Help! My House Is Haunted, with season 3 set to launch on discovery+ later this year. The 6×60 series will see a host of celebrities face their fears and explore the paranormal forces occupying their living spaces.
Across WBD’s UK & Ireland linear portfolio, Really viewers can look forward to a new series featuring Hollywood star Alan Cumming later this year. Alan Cumming’s Paradise Homes will take viewers on a property odyssey across the UK and Europe. The 6×60 series, produced by Lion Television Scotland is a voyage of imagination, as the actor travels to spectacular homes to find inspiration for his own dream property.
Staying with Really, fans of WBD’s long-running medical series, including titles such as Dr Pimple Popper and The Bad Skin Clinic, can look forward to a new show; The Foot Fixer. The 8×60 title, featuring celebrity Podiatrist Marion Yau, ‘Miss Foot Fixer’, sees Yau tackle extreme fungal infections, rams horn toenails, bunions, warts, corns, wounds, lesions, ulcers from her London clinic which she runs, aided by her GP husband Kenny and a team of surgeons. The series, produced by 12 Yard Productions, will air in 2024.
On Food Network two returning series bolster the line-up with Tom Kerridge’s Sunday Lunch (pictured), which includes a Christmas special, and Sophie Grigson: Slice of Italy. In the second season of the series produced by Bone Soup Productions, viewers can indulge in more delicious lunch recipes created by Kerridge. The 8×30 series will air later this year, including an hour-long Christmas special. Also premiering later in 2023 is the 10×30 second series of Sophie Grigson: Slice of Italy, produced by Finestripe Productions. The new series will reveal new aspects of the food loving Italian region of Puglia.
On Quest Red, WBD UK & Ireland will bring viewers two new series in the True Crime offering. The Suitcase Murders delves into the gruesome crimes of killers who attempt to hide their victims in luggage. While criminal psychologists identify the personality traits and sociopathic motivations required to become a ‘Suitcase Murderer’, forensic experts and detectives reveal how their suspect’s attempts to hide and transport their victims offer the clues they need to bring them to justice. The 8×60 series, produced by Woodcut Media, will air later this year.
Also premiering in 2024 on Quest Red is Deadliest Families from Crackit; the makers of Deadliest Mums & Dads and Britain’s Deadliest Kids. The 6×60 series investigates devastating murder cases where the victim and killer are family. Each episode explores a heart-breaking story, charting the closest relationships that take a tragic turn. Forensic psychologist Kerry Daynes analyses the psychology of the killer, exposing the red flags leading up to each murder.
Clare Laycock, SVP Head of Content, Networks & Streaming at WBD UK & Ireland, said: “We’re excited about the breadth of this latest slate of commissioned programmes, across discovery+ and linear, which span our viewers’ most-loved genres from Property, Reality, and Food to True Crime and Paranormal. And we are delighted to offer both new and returning favourites laden with high profile talent ranging from Katherine Ryan to Alan Cumming. We’re bringing our viewers the stories they are deeply passionate about, whether that’s talent-led food shows or our true crime and paranormal shows which gather an extremely curious audience, keen to investigate the most terrifying cases alongside our experts on screens.”