Channel 4 Makes Final Greenlight Decision On Two Of Its Biggest Entertainment Launches Of 2023

Max Goldbart
·3 min read
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EXCLUSIVE: Channel 4 has delivered the verdict on which of its biggest 2023 entertainment launches have landed a second season.

Tempting Fortune, the Paddy McGuinness-hosted adventure reality series, has been given the greenlight for a supersized second season, although U.S. co-pro partner Roku is no longer involved. Danny Dyer-hosted Scared of the Dark, in which celebrities are locked in a pitch-black space for a week, will no longer be seeing the light of day and has been axed.

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The move ends a several-months-long period of speculation over which major 2023 launches would be given the nod for Season 2 during which Channel 4 also culled Studio Lambert’s Traitors-esque Rise and Fall and its version of U.S. History channel hit Alone, the latter revealed by Deadline last week.

Tempting Fortune from Scoop co-producer Voltage TV will shift from six to eight episodes for Season 2. The show sees contestants dropped in a tropical jungle location – South Africa in Season 1 – where they spend a number of days in the wild avoiding temptations thrown at them in order to win as much of a substantial cash prize as possible. Season 1 saw ex-pro basketball player James take home the most, around £22,000 ($27,000) from a pot that started at £300,000. Prize fund for Season 2 is still unconfirmed.

Tempting Fortune was watched by around 1.5M people per ep. Channel 4 said it was one of the most-watched shows last year for the coveted 16-34 year old audience, with a viewing completion rate of 91% across the series. Its performance on Channel 4’s VoD player was crucial to the recommissioning decision, Deadline understands.

“Tempting Fortune has all the hallmarks of a classic Channel 4 format,” said commissioner Steven Handley, who recently took charge of the newly-merged reality and entertainment unit. “It’s the smart and mischievous love-child of an adventure series and a reality show that tests free will and human nature, often with hilarious consequences.”

The series is co-produced with GroupM and sold globally by Cineflix Rights. Roku will not partner on Season 2.

‘Scared of the Dark’

Scared of the Dark
Scared of the Dark. Image: Channel 4

Deadline is told that Channel 4 was only ever going to recommission one of Tempting Fortune, Rise and Fall, Alone and Scared of the Dark, and the latter has therefore become another casualty.

Hosted by fan favorite Dyer, Scared of the Dark saw celebrities including former soccer player Paul Gascoigne, ex-boxer Chris Eubank and Love Island star Chloe Burrows move into a specially-created pitch-black reality space where they lived in complete and total darkness for a week. There, they endured the unique pressures of light deprivation as well as adapting to performing daily tasks and undertaking a series of challenges. Gascoigne, one of England’s most talented soccer stars of the past four decades, eventually won, almost a year ago to the day.

The show rated well, launching to around 1M viewers and gaining more via Channel 4’s VoD player over the next few days as it was stripped through the week.

Scared of the Dark lives on via an innovative deal with Amazon MGM Studios in Germany that is seeing a local version produced by ITV Studios indie Bildergarten. Channel 4’s version was made by ITV Studios stablemate MultiStory Media. The same production company saw its high-profile reboot of reality show Four Weddings abruptly canceled by Channel 4 shortly after it was greenlit last year, which precipitated a tricky few months for the network that it is yet to fully recover from. It is currently in the midst of making around 250 staff redundant.

We understand Don’t Look Down for Stand up to Cancer, another series hosted by McGuinness, is also unlikely to return, Channel 4 is understood to still be accepting entertainment pitches for this year and next.

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