U.K.’s Channel 4 Takes British Family to Africa in New Reality Show
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U.K. broadcaster Channel 4 has greenlit new factual entertainment format “The British Tribe Next Door,” which will see a British family spend four weeks with a remote tribe in Namibia.
The twist in this format is that, unlike most adventurers, the participants don’t say goodbye to the comforts of their home — instead, they take them with them.
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The family will have running water, electricity, and all their possessions around them, from hair-straighteners to frozen ready-made meals and a TV.
The hourlong series, consisting of four episodes, is produced by Voltage TV and Motion Content Group for Channel 4. Scarlett Moffatt and her family, who feature in the C4 series “Gogglebox,” are the British family traveling to Namibia.
The community they will be joining is a small village of semi-nomadic Himba cattle-herders, who live largely traditional lives and who will be given a look at sedentary, high-tech, consumerist Western lifestyles. The four episodes will also explore the challenges to the Himba way of life, from the lure of nearby towns on their youths to the effects of global warming on their harvests.
Alf Lawrie, head of factual entertainment at Channel 4, said: “This series contrasts two worlds on a spectacular scale – but at its heart, is about the extraordinary relationships it creates.”
“The British Tribe Next Door” is one of several new series unveiled by Channel 4 at this week’s Edinburgh TV Festival.
Channel 4 has also ordered “Putin: A Russian Spy Story,” which will offer an account of Putin’s power and how it changed the world. “Brexit Two Tribes” will tell the inside story of the British Conservative Party’s bitter struggle over the U.K.’s membership in the European Union.
Channel 4’s comedy department has also greenlit a second series of “Rufus Jones” and “Lady Parts,” a new comedy about an all-female Muslim punk band.
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