15 September 2021
UKTV today announces two brand-new factual series including Nurses on the Ward (10x60') for W and Special Ops: Crime Squad UK (10x60') for Dave. W's longest-running UKTV Original series Inside the Ambulance (10x60) is also set to return for a 14th series.
Produced by Label 1, producers of the BAFTA-nominated Hospital, Nurses on the Ward will follow the nurses of Queen Alexandra Hospital in Portsmouth. As a nation, we clapped for our nurses week in and week out during lockdown and now, this UKTV Original series will offer viewers a chance to gain unique insight into our healthcare heroes and what it really takes to be a nurse in 2021.
In each episode, viewers will see the heart-warming highs and lows of the ever-demanding role. The nurses work across multiple areas of the hospital where they treat both male and female patients from a range of age groups and their day-to-day involves dressing major surgical wounds, family liaison, urgently moving patients to theatre, blood transfusions, chest drains and much more.
Produced by Brown Bob Productions, Inside the Ambulance is back for its 14th series with more heart-pounding action and heart-warming stories with Britain's frontline paramedics. In this thrilling series viewers get closer than ever to the work of Britain's frontline life-savers. The series gives a unique perspective on the incredible real-life action and human stories experienced by first response emergency workers from the South Central Ambulance Service.
Jacqueline Hewer, CEO & Co-Founder of Brown Bob Productions commented
It has been the most challenging time for the ambulance service and we are looking forward to showcasing their amazing work and resilience for their loyal fans on W.
W's Inside the Ambulance has been commissioned for UKTV by Emile Nawagamuwa, factual commissioner and Nurses on the Ward has been commissioned for UKTV by Hilary Rosen, head of factual and factual entertainment. Nurses on the Ward and Inside the Ambulance were both ordered by Adam Collings, channel director for W. Steve North is genre general manager for comedy and entertainment and Richard Watsham is director of commissioning. Executive producers for Label 1 are head of programmes Lorraine Charker Phillips and Jackie Waldock.
Produced by Red Sauce, Special Ops: Crime Squad UK gives viewers a never-before-seen look into the real-life criminal investigations of the UK's most talented and successful sleuths who tackle some of the UK's most challenging criminal cases. With access to top police officers from across the country, the gritty and intelligent new series will meet the most hardened of criminals in impossibly tough cases, where regular police work has hit a brick wall, and tell the stories of the super-specialist, elite teams who are assembled to make a breakthrough.
The series is the first commission from UKTV for Red Sauce by commissioning editor, Kirsty Hanson and it was ordered by Dave channel director, Cherie Cunningham. Red Sauce is part of the Zinc Media Group and is headed up by former BBC commissioning editor Tom Edwards, who is also executive producer for Special Ops: Crime Squad UK. The series producer is Rob Lambie and the series will air on Dave in 2022.
Tom Edwards, executive producer for Red Sauce said
We are thrilled to be working with Dave for the first time, and on such a gripping series. Special Ops: Crime Squad UK not only gives unique insight into these top level police investigations, it reveals the real, lived experience for the police officers involved. We've filmed with multiple task forces across the country and combined this with exclusive interviews, archive, CCTV and body cam footage to make a truly compelling series.
Hilary Rosen said
Factual commissioning at UKTV is going from strength to strength and we have a vibrant new slate of shows to add to the growing list. We are delighted to be working with Label 1 on Nurses on the Ward, and the series promises to deliver warmth, drama and fresh insight into the realities of the working lives of nurses. The series will sit alongside the return of W's much-loved paramedics starring in Inside the Ambulance, and on Dave, Special Ops: Crime Squad UK is our latest factual commission examining the painstaking work of criminal investigation teams.
The announcement of Nurses on the Ward, Inside the Ambulance and Special Ops: Crime Squad UK follows a slate of fresh new programming on W and Dave in 2021, including David Mitchell fronted comedy entertainment series Outsiders, the return of Late Night Mash hosted by Nish Kumar, Nurses Down Under, produced by ITV Studios Australia, and the recently announced series with Emma Willis and AJ Odudu, Emma and AJ Get To Work.
Inside the Ambulance and Nurses on the Ward will air exclusively in the UK on UKTV's W channel, and Special Ops: Crime Squad UK, will air on free-to-air channel Dave and on-demand service UKTV Play.
For more information, please contact: Mel Lynch, Publicist
About W
Sky 109/245, Virgin 124/191, BT 311 & TalkTalk 407 / On demand on Sky and Virgin
W is UKTV's premium entertainment channel, offering audiences a dazzling mix of UKTV Original series with some of the UK's most-loved talent in front and behind the camera.
W offers a wide variety of shows that tap into the raw and genuine heart swell moments, from emotions running high at the sound of a baby's first cry in the award-winning Emma Willis: Delivering Babies, to heart-stopping drama for the incredible frontline workers in Inside the Ambulance and 999 Rescue Squad. Elsewhere, award-winning documentary maker Stacey Dooley offers an insight into unseen areas of modern relationships and family life in the hit series Stacey Dooley Sleeps Over, and Dr Ranj Singh provides support to individuals with some of the most severe food phobias in Extreme Food Phobics.
W is also the exclusive home to joyful competitive cookery formats Plate of Origin and the effervescent MasterChef franchise, including MasterChef Australia, MasterChef USA and MasterChef Juniors.
About Dave
Sky 111/811, Virgin 127/194, Freesat 157, Freeview, BT & TalkTalk 19, Freesat 157
Dave is the award-winning entertainment channel home to a veritable feast of UKTV Original comedy hits from some of the biggest stars in the UK.
Comedy entertainment shows like BAFTA-nominated Big Zuu's Big Eats, Outsiders, Mel Giedroyc: Unforgivable, Late Night Mash, Hypothetical, Comedians Giving Lectures, Question Team, Alan Davies: As Yet Untitled, The Island_and _British As Folk sit alongside scripted comedies such as Meet The Richardsons and Red Dwarf.
But Dave isn't just restricted to television screens. There's exclusive online content, with Youtube's Big Zuu's Wrap Clash and Who Cares? With Amelia Dimoldenberg, as well as Facebook series The Comedy Guide To Life, Bad Advice with Olga Koch and BackChat.
Dave's partnership with CALM has led to exclusive commissions and innovative online and marketing campaigns such as #BeTheMateYoudWant. Dave is the proud sponsor of Dave's Edinburgh Comedy Awards and also crowns its yearly Joke Of The Edinburgh Fringe every August.
About UKTV
UKTV has been at the forefront of branded television for over 25 years, entertaining the nation with programmes they love. Its leading brands - Dave, Gold, W, Drama, Alibi, Eden and Yesterday - span comedy, entertainment, natural history, factual and drama, and are delivered to audiences through UKTV Play, Freeview, Sky, Virgin Media, BT, TalkTalk, YouView, Freesat and Amazon Fire. The broadcaster is a significant investor in British creativity and is committed to working with new and established writers, directors and programme-makers.
UKTV is part of BBC Studios, the UK's most-awarded production company, a world-class distributor with international branded services, and a commercial subsidiary of the world's leading public service broadcaster, the BBC.
corporate.uktv.co.uk | press.uktv.co.uk | @uktvpress
About UKTV Play
UKTV Play is an on-demand TV service providing instant access to shows from UKTV's free-to-air channels - Dave, Yesterday and Drama.
With the easy-to-use UKTV Play app you can browse and stream hundreds of shows for free via your computer, tablet or smart phone. You can also watch on the telly thanks to Amazon, Apple TV, Fire TV and Fire TV Stick, Freeview, NOW TV, Roku and YouView.
If you're a Sky, Virgin Media, BT TV or TalkTalk TV customer, shows from other great UKTV channels - Gold, W, Alibi, and Eden - are also on the menu.