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15 unusual facts about Channel 4


Alan Carr

In 2010, Carr took part in Channel 4's Comedy Gala, a benefit show held in aid of Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital, filmed live at the O2 Arena in London on 30 March.

Bill Goldfinch

The programme was shown in 2000 Channel 4 in the UK as part of a 3-part (150 minute total) "Escape from Colditz" documentary.

Blame It on the Girls

He performed the song on So You Think You Can Dance on 30 January, as well as on Alan Carr: Chatty Man on the 11th, and on The Album Chart Show on Channel 4 on the 12th.

Broadcasting Act

The Broadcasting Act 1980, that among other things allowed for the creation of Channel 4

Do You Feel What I Feel?

The group once again performed the song on 25 November on The Graham Norton Show, and on their special for Channel 4's The Album Chart Show on 27 November.

Edgar Wallace Mysteries

In Britain it was seen on ITV, Channel 4 and Bravo at various times from the late Sixties through to the Nineties.

Esprit d'amour

In 1990 the film was featured as part of Channel 4's Chinese Ghost Story season introduced by Johnathan Ross, being played alongside similar movies in the genre such as Encounters of the Spooky Kind, Zu Warriors from the Magic Mountain, Mr. Vampire, Spiritual Love and Rouge.

Goodwood Racecourse

From 1968 to 1970 the course's late summer meeting was shown on ITV, and from the early 2000s some races from the course occasionally appeared on Channel 4, but otherwise the course had been covered exclusively by the BBC for 50 years from 1956 (when it first appeared on television) to 2006.

Kevin Bridges

In 2010, he took part in Channel 4's Comedy Gala, a benefit show held in aid of Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital, filmed live at the O2 Arena in London.

Morrissey Fox

Development of the original 'Blonde' ale began in January 2008 and was documented in the Channel 4 programme Neil Morrissey's Risky Business.

Raleigh Gilbert

His final broadcast on Channel 4 was in January 1996 - at the end of his involvement with the channel he was only used as a betting and results reader.

Reed Mill, Kingston

The conversion was covered in the first programme of the second series of Channel 4's Restoration Man programme.

Renee Williams

She was also the subject of a British television program called "Half Ton Mum" broadcast on Channel 4 after her death as part of the BodyShock series.

The Mousehole Cat

In 1994, Grasshopper Enterprises created an animated version of the tale as part of Channel 4's Beastly Xmas in 1995, narrated by Sian Phillips.

Who Killed Thomas Becket?

Who Killed Thomas Becket? is a 2004 Channel 4 documentary concerning the murder of Thomas Becket, who was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1162 to his death in 1170.


1985 Handsworth riots

Filmmaker and artist Pogus Caesar extensively photographed the second Handsworth riot, it was also witnessed by Bronx graffiti artists Brim and Goldie, who documented the devastation in the Channel 4 documentary Bombing.

An Act of Valour

The cast of An Act of Valour mainly consists of members of the Caravanserai Productions and Acting Studio, but also of experienced actors like Gerard Monaco, and most notably Marcus D'Amico, best known for his portrayal of Michael 'Mouse' Tolliver in the Channel 4 adaptation of Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City.

Ashley Slanina-Davies

Ashley Slanina-Davies (born 18 December 1989) is an English actress born in Standish, near Wigan, who is notable for playing the role of Amy Barnes on Channel 4's teen soap, Hollyoaks.

Astra 2D

Channel 4 broadcast most of its channels free to air from this satellite, including Channel 4, Channel 4+1, E4, More4 and Film4 along with their timeshift variants.

Battle of Orgreave

The event took place on 17 June 2001 and was filmed by film director Mike Figgis for a Channel 4 documentary.

Channel 4 Banned season

The Channel 4 Banned season was a series of television documentaries on the UK's Channel 4 in 2004-2005, examining the history of explicit and controversial material on British television, and its infiltration of the mainstream.

Cremation of Care

The Grove and Jones' investigation were covered by Jon Ronson in Channel 4's four-part documentary Secret Rulers of the World.

Dirk Obbink

In March 2010 Obbink appeared in Channel 4's series Alexandria: The Greatest City, presented by Bettany Hughes.

Emma Freud

Emma has also presented Channel 4 programmes, such as The Pulse on the subject of health, and The Media Show.

Emmerdale plane crash

In the 5 January 1994 episode of Channel 4 soap Brookside, character Mick Johnson (Louis Emerick) was seen reading a newspaper with the front page headline "AIR DISASTER TOLL RISES - Village Mourns As Many Die", reflecting the events in Emmerdale.

Estuary English

The term "Estuary English" is sometimes used with pejorative connotations: Sally Gunnell, a former Olympic athlete who became a television presenter for Channel 4 and the BBC, quit the BBC, announcing she felt "very undermined" by the network's lack of support after she was widely criticised for her "uninspiring interview style" and "awful estuary English".

Five Minutes to a Fortune

Five Minutes to a Fortune was a British game show, which aired on Channel 4 from 6 April 2013 to 5 May 2013 and was hosted by Davina McCall.

Helen Ukpabio

In 2008, the TV news documentary Dispatches Saving Africa's Witch Children by UK broadcaster Channel 4 stated the views that she expresses have led to a massive upsurge in children stigmatised and abandoned by their families in West Africa, particularly in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria.

Horseferry Road

Other notable institutions which are or have been located on Horseferry Road include Broadwood and Sons, the Gas Light and Coke Company, British Standards Institution, the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, the Burberry Group headquarters in Horseferry House, the National Probation Service and Channel 4.

James Rusbridger

In May 1989 Rusbridger made an extended appearance on the Channel 4 discussion programme After Dark, alongside Tony Benn, Lord Dacre, Miles Copeland and others.

John Fielding

The 2008 Channel 4 television series City of Vice is based on the crime investigation work of the Fielding brothers.

John Francome

He was a trainer for 18 months before becoming a TV presenter for Channel 4's horse racing broadcasts.

Ken Hames

Following a debut on Battle Stripes for Sky TV in 2000, Hames designed and presented Channel 4's Desert Darlings, and in October 2002, filmed the follow on in Namibia with couples who attempted to cross the Namib Desert.

Lighter

In August 2011 Stephen Fry chose the lighter as the greatest gadget in his Channel 4 programme Stephen Fry's 100 Greatest Gadgets, one of the 100 Greatest strand, describing it as "fire with a flick of the fingers".

Lincoln Castle Academy

Tracy Borman (1988 to 1990) PhD Historian, author of Henrietta Howard: King’s Servant, Queen’s Mistress, Elizabeth’s Women: Friends, Rivals and Foes Who Shaped the Virgin Queen and Queen of the Conqueror: The Life of Matilda, Wife of William I as well as regular appearances on television for BBC, Channel 4, Channel 5 and Sky.

Luke Toyne

His live event hosting includes public entertainment, corporate networking, media workshops and marketing campaigns including 'Robots Live' - the roadshow tour of Robot Wars, Carphone Warehouse, Virgin and Derren Brown's dating experiment for Trick or Treat on Channel 4.

Miss Naked Beauty

Miss Naked Beauty is a short-lived, six-episode reality television show produced by Maverick Television, aired on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom.

Nick Middleton

Going to Extremes is a television programme for Channel 4 about extreme lifestyles, in which Middleton experiences life in the hostile conditions other

Open Mind Productions

They have produced some 500 programmes for children and educational TV, including The Number Crew,Rat-A-Tat-Tat and Maths Mansion for Channel 4 and Little Ninjas Karate for Playhouse Disney Numberjacks for BBC2.

Penny Mallory

Mallory is also a television presenter; she co-anchored Channel 4's motoring programme Driven alongside Mike Brewer and Jason Plato and Accident Black Spot.

Popworld Promotes

Popworld Promotes is a competition run by Channel 4's Popworld television programme, searching for potentially talented unsigned bands in the UK.

Richborough Power Station

The power station can be seen in several scenes of the 2008 film Son of Rambow, and was the location for the 2003 Channel 4 television series Full Metal Challenge.

Right to Reply

Right to Reply (sometimes called R2R) was a British television series shown on Channel 4 from 1982 until 2001, which allowed viewers to voice their complaints or concerns about TV programmes.

Ruth Bratt

Bratt has made notable appearances on several TV shows including FAQ U on Channel 4 (2005) and Rob Brydon's Annually Retentive on BBC Three (2006).

Ruth Dudley Edwards

Her non-fiction books include An Atlas of Irish History, James Connolly, Victor Gollancz: A Biography (winner of the James Tait Black Memorial Prize), The Pursuit of Reason: The Economist 1843–1993, The Faithful Tribe: An Intimate Portrait of the Loyal Institutions (shortlisted for Channel 4/The House Politico's Book of the Year) and Newspapermen: Hugh Cudlipp, Cecil King and the glory days of Fleet Street.

Saltley Gate Peace Group

In January 2007, the group publicly supported the city's Green Lane Mosque against accusations of extremism, made in the Channel 4 documentary Undercover Mosque.

Slavery in Sudan

The issue was the subject of a Channel 4 dramatised documentary, I Am Slave in August 2010, in which none of these religious conflicts were highlighted.

Surrey Heath

Surrey Heath was voted the 6th best place to live in Channel 4's 2007 Location, Location, Location 'best and worst' survey.

Tamzin Malleson

She originally played Alison Dangerfield in Series 3 and 4 of the BBC drama Dangerfield, before going on to play one of the starring roles (Penny Neville) in the Channel 4 comedy, Teachers, for three of the programme's four series, and she starred in one of ITV's Poirot adaptations, "Evil Under The Sun."

The Blunkett Tapes

The diaries were also the subject of two episodes of the Channel 4 Dispatches documentary in October 2006, and were read on BBC Radio 4 as book of the week in October 2006.

The Law of the Playground

The Law of the Playground is a British television series broadcast on Channel 4 produced by Zeppotron in which various British comedians and celebrities recollect the past times of childhood at school.

The Perfect Home

The Perfect Home is a television series of three 42 minute episodes commissioned for Channel 4 based on the book The Architecture of Happiness by Alain de Botton which first aired in 2006.

Tobie Puttock

The creation of the restaurant and training scheme formed the basis of a 2002 TV series on Channel 4, Jamie's Kitchen.

Tristan Gemmill

In 2005, on ITV, Gemmill starred in Distant Shores, as Duncan, alongside Samantha Bond and Peter Davison, while in 2007, Gemmill he appeared as Dr David York in the Channel 4 drama Cape Wrath.

Vince Earl

In November 2007, Earl returned to the set of Brookside in West Derby, Liverpool for an interview with ITV Local News to celebrate 25 years since the show started on Channel 4.

Waheed Khan

He eventually directed and produced documentaries for the BBC and Channel 4 of a public service nature on a variety of subjects.

Willie Harcourt-Cooze

Relocating to a rented property in Devon, England, after several years of assembling suitable equipment, and the resumption of cocoa farming, he began production in 2007 in Uffculme, Devon, filmed by Channel 4.

Won't Go Home Without You

Robert Christgau gave a positive review on the album as well as the song, saying "The devilishly memorable "Won't Go Home Without You" combines confidence with affection rather than macho." Channel 4 called the song "the musical equivalent of a dog's fart at the dinner table" and gave it just one star out of a possible ten.

Young Fathers

During this time they released another single, "Automatic," appearing on Channel 4's Big Brother's Big Mouth in 2009 and performing at T in the Park, Creamfields, Wakestock, Belladrum and Sónar amongst other festivals, as well as main support on tours with Esser and Simian Mobile Disco.