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Richard Desmond, the owner of OK! Magazine and the Daily Express has bought Five TV for £103.5 million. He hopes to bring Big Brother to the channel whilst cutting costs significantly to make the station profitable. Details of Richard Desmond’s plans for Channel Five television ►

11th July 2010 - Lewis Recommissioned

ITV’s Drama commissioning team today confirmed a new series of the hit drama Lewis starring Kevin Whately and Laurence Fox. Four new episodes will go into production in July featuring Inspector Robbie Lewis and his partner DS Hathaway investigating murder mysteries against the glorious backdrop of Oxford. The new commission of this quality drama comes hot on the heels of series three which was broadcast this spring to 7 million viewers. Says Sally Haynes, ITV’s Controller of Drama commissioning: “Lewis is always one of the highlights of the year on ITV1 and features not only a great partnership between Lewis and Hathaway but some great plot lines and twists that keep the audience gripped. I’m thrilled it’s returning and I know our viewers will be too.” See our page for ITV’s police series Lewis ►

15th June 2010 - Bill Wraps

The final scenes for The Bill were filmed yesterday after 27 years of stories.

9th June 2010 - Torchwood Series Four

Torchwood is to return for a new series of 10 episodes starring John Barrowman and Eve Myles

26th May 2010 - Above Suspicion Recommissioned

ITV will be filming a new three-part series of Above Suspicion by Linda La Planter for transmission next year.

18th May 2010 - US Shows Cancelled

No further Heroes shows will be made as the series has been axed after 4 series. FlashForward will not go to a second series.

14th May 2010 - Outcasts Filming Starts

The BBC has started filming for SF series Outcasts in South Africa which doubles for planet Carpathia in 2040. Eric Mabius and Hermione Norris star.

16th April 2010 - Survivors Axed

The BBC has axed Survivors after two series. Ratings had fallen from 7m to 4.4m.

5th April 2010 - ITV Recommissions Doc Martin

ITV has commissioned 8 60-minute shows for broadcast in 2011.

26th March 2010 - Bill Axed

ITV has axed The Bill after 25 years on air. The show will finish later in the year. Audiences that have fallen to around 4 million are blamed.

23rd March 2010 - BBC starts filming Sherlock

BBC and Hartswood Films have started filming the three 90 minute films of Sherlock Holmes in contemporary times.

3rd March 2010 - ITV annouces £25 million profit

Archie Norman says that “there has been a rebound in ad revenue,” but “we started from a low base last year.” The company lost £2.73 billion last year but this was partly due to a writedown of assets, which if stripped out gave an operating profit of £108 million.

24th February 2010 - McKenzie returns as Marple

Julia MacKenzie is back as Miss Marple in a new episode called The Pale Horse.

22nd February 2010 - Taggart Re-commissioned

STV will produce a new 6 sixty-minute episode series in a co-operative deal with ITV and UKTV.

19th February 2010 - Filming starts on Whitechapel II

Whitechapel’s second series will comprise of three hour long episodes filmed in Bethnall Green, Whitechapel and the East End.

18th February 2010 - SeeSaw launches

The joint online TV streaming service from BBC, Channel 4 and Five has launched with archive programme material.

9th February 2010 - Neil Dudgeon takes over from John Nettles in Midsomer

Neil Dudgeon will replace Nettles playing DCI John Barnaby cousin to Tom Barnaby. His first appearance is in the episode The Sword of Guillaume.

6th February 2010 - Single-Handed recommissioned

ITV and RTE have commissioned Touchpaper Television, part of the RDF Media Group, to make a brand new six part of the police drama Single-Handed. In Ireland the series achieved ratings up to a 38% share and 4 million viewers on ITV in the UK.

29th January 2010 - Adam Crozier for ITV

ITV has announced that Royal Mail boss Adam Crozier is to become their chief executive later this year. Their search for a replacement CEO has taken around 10 months.

25th January 2010 - David Abraham new C4 CEO

UKTV boss David Abraham is to replace Andy Duncan (who left at the end of 2009) as Channel 4’s chief executive. He will be paid £490,000 per annum plus bonuses

22nd January 2010 - BskyB must sell ITV stake

The Competition Commission ruling of two years ago that BskyB must sell its ITV stake to below 7.5% has been upheld by three judges at the Court of Appeal. Bskyb has already had its objections thrown out by the Competition Appeal Tribunal but now has 28 days to consider a third appeal to the Supreme Court. It is thought that their chances of winning are slim.

18th January 2010 - BBC iPlayer on Freesat

The BBC’s catch up service is now available on the free-to-air satellite service freesat following trials before Christmas. Users need to enter access code 5483.

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